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5 


MEMORANDA 


CHRONICLES 


THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL, 

INCLUDING 

MEMOIRS OF CAPTAIN CORAM, 

&C. &C. 

By JOHN BROWNLOW. 


LONDON: 



SAMPSON LOW, LAMBS CONDUIT STREET. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


This Work is Published in aid of " The Benevolent Fund” of the 
Hospital. Vide page 227. 


9 




CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Memoranda ......... 1 

Hogarth. 5 

Artists meet at the Hospital . . . . 10 

Biographical Notices. 21-44 

Catalogue of Pictures, &c. 49 

Highmore. ibid. 

Wills.50 

Hayman.. . 51 

Wale. 54 

Haytley. 55 

Gainsborough . 56 

Wilson ........ 57 

Rysbrack. 59 

The March to Finchley . . . . 61 

Brooking ....... 77 

Lambert . . . . . . . 78 

Sir Godfrey Kneller ...... 80 

Cotes ........ 82 

Casali.85 

Roubiliac ^ 87 

Shackleton 89 

Sir Joshua Reynolds > ibid. 

Ramsay ........ 92 

Dr. Mead. 93 

Hudson . 94 

Captain Coram. .95 

Monamy . . , . . . .128 

Cartoon by Raffael.129 

Prince Hoare, Esq. ibid. 

Anecdotes relating to Pictures . . . 136 









IV 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

The Chapel .l 4 ^ 

Handel 143 

West. 146 

The Catacombs l 4 ^ 

Academy of Music ....... 156 

Admission of Children . . . . • .166 

Tokens . . . . • • • .177 

The Intentions of the Founder . . . .182 

Children Received with Money . . . • 187 

The Present Practice . . . • .190 

The Privileges of the Governors .... 206 

Naming and Baptizing of the Children . . . 207 

The Nursing and Mortality of the Children . . 210 

Sir Hans Sloane . . . . . ,216 

Disposal of the Children . . . . . .221 

The Revenues of the Hospital ..... 222 

The Benevolent Fund . . . . .227 


Directions to the Binder. 

^ Captain Coram, after Hogarth, to face the Title. Page. 

The Foundlings. 6 

The Arms of the Hospital.9 

View of the Hospital, 1749 . 12 

“ Turk’s Head” Autographs . 45 

Hogarth’s Autograph ..47 

Wilkes’ Autograph ..48 

Full-length Portrait of Captain Coram ... 95 

Autograph Letter of Captain Coram . . . 123 












MEMORANDA, 

FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


Sir Robert Strange in his “ Enquiry into the 
rise and Establishment of the Royal Academy of 
Arts/’ makes the following remark.— 

“ The donations in painting, which several artists 
presented to the Foundling Hospital , were among the 
first objects of this nature, which had engaged the 
attention of the public. The artists, observing the 
effects that these paintings produced, came, in the 
year 1760, to a resolution to try the fate of an ex¬ 
hibition of their works. This effort had its desired 
effect: the public were entertained, and the artists 
were excited to emulation.”— 

And again in his “ Conduct of the Royal Acade¬ 
micians,” he says, 

“ Accident has often been observed to produce, what 
the utmost efforts of industry have failed to accom¬ 
plish ; and something of that kind seems to have 
happened here. As liberty has ever been considered 
the friend and parent of the fine arts, it is natural 
for their professors to revere the memory of all those 

B 


2 


memoranda, 


who were the champions and assertors of that in¬ 
valuable blessing, particularly those of our own 
country : on this principle it was, that the artists we 
are now speaking of, had an annual meeting at the 
Foundling Hospital, to commemorate the landing of 
King William. To this charity, several of their body 
had made donations in Painting, Sculpture, &c. 
which being accessible to the public, made those 
artists more generally known than others ; and this 
circumstance it was, that first suggested an exhibi¬ 
tion ; which was no sooner proposed than approved ; 
the Committee consequently, who were the pro¬ 
posers, received directions to issue proper notices 
of the intention ; the performances of many ingeni¬ 
ous men, hitherto unknown, were received, and on 
the 21st day of April, 1760, an exhibition was open¬ 
ed in the great room, belonging to the Society of 
Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, in the Strand ; 
on which it will be sufficient to observe, that the 
success was equal to the most sanguine expecta¬ 
tions ; the public were pleased, and the artists ap¬ 
plauded ; those already known received additional 
reputation, and such as were not, became the imme¬ 
diate acquaintance of the public.” 

Edwards also in his anecdotes, of Painters, speak¬ 
ing of the unsuccessful attempts made to form an 
Academy, says, 

“ Although these endeavours of the artists had not 
succeeded, they were far from being so discouraged 
as not to continue their meetings, as well as their 
studies; and the next effort they made, towards 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


3 


acquiring the attention of the public, was connected 
with the Foundling Hospital . 

“This Institution, so humane in its primitive in¬ 
tention, whatever may be thought of its effects, was 
incorporated by Charter, dated 1739. A few years 
after that period, the present building was erected ; 
but as the income of the Charity could, with no pro¬ 
priety, be expended upon decorations, many of the 
principal artists of that day voluntarily exerted their 
talents for the purpose of ornamenting several of the 
apartments of the Hospital, which otherwise must 
have remained without decoration. The pictures thus 
produced, and generously given, were permitted to 
be seen by any visitor, upon proper application. 
The spectacle was so new, that it made a considerable 
impression upon the public, and the favorable recep¬ 
tion these works experienced, impressed the artists 
with an idea of forming a public exhibition.” 

Of the period referred to, Smollett, in his History 
of the Reign of George II. remarks, 

“ The British soil, which had hitherto been barren 
in the article of painting, now produced some artists 
of extraordinary merit. Hogarth excelled all the 
world in exhibiting the scenes of ordinary life ; in 
humour, character, and expression. Hayman be¬ 
came eminent for historical designs and conversa¬ 
tion pieces. Reynolds and Ramsay distinguished 
themselves by their superior merits in portraits; a 
branch that was successfully cultivated by many 
other English painters. Wootton was famous for re¬ 
presenting live animals in general; Seymour for race- 


4 


MEMORANDA, 


horses; Lambert and the Smiths for landscapes ; 
and Scott for sea peices. Several spirited attempts 
were made on historical subjects, but little progress 
was made in the sublime parts of painting. Essays 
of this kind were discouraged by a false taste, found- 
ed upon a reprobation of British genius. The art ot 
engraving was brought to perfection by Strange, and 
laudably practised by Grignon, Baron, Ravenet, 
and several other masters : great improvements were 
made in mezzotinto, miniature and enamel. Many 
fair monuments of sculpture or statuary were raised 
by Rysbrach, Roubilliac and Wilton. 

Architecture, which had been cherished by the 
elegant taste of Burlington, soon became a favourite 
study, and many magnificent edifices were reared in 
different parts of the kingdom.” 

Another writer has said, “ that it is within the 
Walls of the Foundling the curious may contemplate 
the state of British art previously to the epoch when 
George the III. first countenanced the historical 
talent of West.” 

With such evidence as is afforded by these state¬ 
ments of the peculiar interest attached to the pro¬ 
gress of the arts in the Reign of George the II., and 
of their partial association with the institution of the 
Foundling Hospital , it seems right that if any thing 
remains to be told on such a subject (however small), 
it should not be withheld. 

It is therefore with a view of collecting together a 
few scattered materials not hitherto published, and 
of recording in a concentrated form, events long 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


5 


since past, of which the Hospital has been the scene, 
and tlie History of Men who have laboured in its 
vineyard, that this Book is compiled. 

The establishment of a Foundling Hospital in 
England, now upwards of 100 years ago, took a 
strong hold on the national sympathy: it imme¬ 
diately became what is termed a “ popular ” Institu¬ 
tion. The then ill-defined and wretched administra¬ 
tion of the Poor Laws, left the deserted child with¬ 
out other protection than the casual humanity of the 
passenger—lives were lost to the commonwealth by 
this absence of public feeling, wisdom, and fore¬ 
thought. Men, therefore, of kindly disposition, joined 
in this enlarged work of Charity, not because they 
were insensible of its partially mischievous ten¬ 
dency, but because they conceived that the contem¬ 
plated salvation of numerous lives to the public was 
paramount to any evil which might arise from it. 

Amongst those who co-operated in forwarding this 
work of extended humanity, was the celebrated 
painter, William Hogarth, and by the Charter for 
incorporating the Hospital, he appears as one of its 
constituent members, under the denomination of “ a 
Governor and Guardian,’’ along with a host of other 
“ trusty and well-beloved subjects ” of his Majesty, 
George the II. 

Nor did Hogarth hold this appointment to be 
merely nominal, for we find him subscribing his 
money, and attending the Courts or General Meet¬ 
ings at the Hospital, as one of its active members, 
and joining heartily in carrying out the designs of 


6 


MEMORANDA, 


his friend, the venerable Captain Coram, through 
whose zeal and humanity the Hospital was founded. 

The Charter of the Hospital authorized the Go¬ 
vernors to appoint persons to ask for alms on behalf 
of the Charity and to receive Subscriptions ; and the 
first artistical work of Hogarth in aid of this object, 
was to prepare a “ head piece” to a Power of Attor¬ 
ney drawn up for the purpose : a copy of which 
head piece is annexed, taken from the original plate 
in the possession of the Hospital, and now for the 
first time published by the kind permission of the 
present Governors. 

The principal figure is that of Captain Coram him¬ 
self, with the Charter under his arm. Before him 
the beadle carries an Infant, whose mother having 
dropped a dagger with which she might have been 
momentarily tempted to destroy her child, kneels at 
his feet, while he, with that benevolence with which 
his countenance is so eminently marked, bids her be 
comforted, for her babe will be nursed and protected. 
On the dexter side of the print is a new born Infant 
left close to a stream of water which runs under the 
arch of a bridge. Near a gate on a little eminence 
in the pathway above, a woman leaves another child 
to the casual care of the next person who passes by. 
In the distance is a village with a Church. In the 
other corner are three boys coming out of the door, 
with the King’s Arms over it, with emblems of their 
future employments—one of them poises a plummet 
— a second holds a trowel, and a third, whose mother 
is fondly pressing him to her bosom, has in his hand 



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FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


7 


a card for combing wool. The next group, headed 
by a lad elevating a mathematical instrument, are in 
sailors jackets and trousers. Those on their right 
hand, one of whom has a rake, are in the uniform of 
the school. The attributes of the three little girls 
in the foreground—a spinning-wheel, a sampler and 
broom, indicate female industry and ingenuity. 

It should be remarked that the designs of the 
Hospital, foreshadowed by diis interesting engrav¬ 
ing, did not come into actual operation ’till two years 
afterwards. 

In May, 1740, that is, seven months after the 
granting of the Charter, at the Annual Court, “ Mr. 
Folkes * acquainted the Governors, that Mr. Hogarth 


* Martin Folkes, Esq. (a Yice-President of the Hospital). 

This elegant scholar was a Mathematician and Antiquary of much cele¬ 
brity in the philosophical annals of literature. In 1713, at the early age of 
twenty-four, he was elected a Fellow of the Itoyal Society, and in 1741 was 
elected President. Mr. Folkes was also an early Member of the Society of 
Antiquaries, having been elected in 1719-20, and his communications to 
both Societies were numerous and valuable. His knowledge in ancient and 
modern coins was very extensive ; and the most important work he pro¬ 
duced, was “The History of the English Gold and Silver Coin, from the 
Conquest to his own time.” Algernon, the famous Duke of Somerset, who 
had been many years President of the Society of Antiquaries, dying Feb¬ 
ruary 9, 1749-50, Mr. Folkes, who was then one of the Vice-Presidents, was 
immediately chosen to succeed his Grace ; and was continued President by 
the Charter of Incorporation of that Society, November 2, 1751. But he 
was soon disabled from presiding in person, either in that or the Royal 
Society, being seized on the 26th September, the same year, with a palsy, 
which deprived him of the use of his left side. On the 30th November, 
1753, he resigned the Presidentship of the Royal Society, but continued 
President of the Society of Antiquaries till his death. After having lan¬ 
guished nearly three years, a second attack of his disorder, on the 25th 
June, 1754, put an end to his life on the 28th of that month. His portrait, 
painted by Hogarth, is in the Council room of the Royal Society. 



8 


MEMORANDA, 


had presented to them a whole length picture of 
Mr. Coram, for this Corporation to keep in memory 
of the said Mr. Coram’s having solicited, and obtained 
His Majesty’s Royal Charter for this Charity.” Wri¬ 
ting of himself some years afterwards, Hogarth says 
“ The portrait which I painted with most pleasure, 
and in which I particularly wished to excel, was 
that of Captain Coram for the Foundling Hospital ; 
and” (he adds in allusion to his detractors as a por¬ 
trait painter) ^ if I am so wretched an artist as my 
enemies assert, it is somewhat strange that this, 
which was one of the first I painted the size of life, 
should stand the test of twenty years competition, 
and be generally thought the best portrait in the 
place, notwithstanding the first painters in the king¬ 
dom exerted all their talents to vie with it.”* 

Hogarth is said to have displayed no little vanity 
regarding his pretensions as a portrait painter. In 
proof of this, it is related of him, that being at dinner 
with Dr. Cheselden, and some other company, he 
was informed that John Freke, surgeon of St. Bar¬ 
tholomew’s Hospital, had asserted in Dick’s Coffee 
House, that Greene was as eminent in composition 
as Handel. “ That fellow, Freke,” cried Hogarth, 
“ is always shooting his bolt absurdly one way or 
another. Handel is a giant in music, Greene only a 

* The rival portraits here alluded to, are George the Second, Patron of 
the Poundation, by Shackleton ; Lord Dartmouth, one of the Vice-Presi¬ 
dents, by Mr. Reynolds, (afterwards Sir Joshua) ; Taylor White, Treasurer 
of the Hospital, in crayons, by Cotes; Mr. Milner and Mr. Jacobson, by 
Hudson; Dr. Mead, by Ramsay; Mr. Emmerson, by Highmore ; and 
Francis Fanquier, Esq., by Wilson. 



























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FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


9 


light Florimel kind of composer.” “ Aye, but” said 
the other, “ Freke declared you were as good a por¬ 
trait painter as Vandyck.” There he was in the 
right,” quoth Hogarth, “ and so I am, give me but 
my time and let me choose my subject.” 

In March, 1741, the Governors resolved to com¬ 
mence upon the good purposes of their Charter, but 
not being able to obtain a suitable building, they 
took houses in Hatton Garden, near the Charity 
School, and opened them as receptacles and nurse¬ 
ries for Infants. In the minutes of that month is the 
following entry.— 

“ Mr. Taylor White acquainted the Committee 
that Mr. Hogarth had painted a Shield which was 
put up over the door of this Hospital, and presented 
the same to this Hospital.” 

This shield, or sign, has not been preserved, nor 
is there any record of its design, but it is not impro¬ 
bable that it was an emblematical sketch similar in 
character, if not actually the same, as the Arms of 
the Hospital presented to the Court of Governors, by 
the Authorities of the Heralds’ College, in 1747, and 
which is said by Nichols, in his Biographical Anec¬ 
dotes, to have been designed by Hogarth. The 
technical description of these Arms is as follows, viz. 

“ Party per fesse, Azure & Vert,” a young child 
lying naked and exposed, extending its right hand 
proper. In chief a Crescent Argent between two 
Mullets of six points Or; and for a Crest on a 
Wreath of the Colours, a Lamb Argent, holding in 
its mouth a Sprig of Thyme proper, supported on the 
c 


10 


MEMORANDA, 


dexter side by a terminal figure of a Woman full of 
Nipples proper, with a Mantle Vert, the term Argent 
being the emblem of Liberty, represented by Britan¬ 
nia holding in her right hand upon a staff proper, a 
a Cap Argent, and habited in a Vest Azure, girt with 
belt Or, the under garment Gules.” Motto “ Help.” 

The Governors of the Charity having purchased 
fifty-six acres of land of the Earl of Salisbury, com¬ 
menced in 1740 erecting the present Building, the 
western wing of which was finished and inhabited 
in 1745. It was at this period that Hogarth con¬ 
templated the adornment of its walls with works of 
Art, with which view he solicited and obtained the 
co-operation of some of his professional brethren. 
At a Court of Governors, held on the 31st Decem¬ 
ber, 1746, Hogarth, and Rysbrach, the sculptor, 
being present as Governors of the Hospital,—“ The 
Treasurer acquainted this General Meeting, that the 
following Gentlemen, Artists, had severally present¬ 
ed, and agreed to present, performances in their dif¬ 
ferent professions, for ornamenting this Hospital, viz. 
Mr. Francis Hayman, Mr. James Wills, Mr. Joseph 
Highmore, Mr. Thomas Hudson, Mr. Allan Ramsay, 
Mr. George Lambert, Mr. Samuel Scott, Mr. Peter 
Monamy, Mr. Richard Wilson, Mr. Samuel Whale, 
Mr. Edward Hately, Mr. Thomas Carter, Mr. George 
Moser, Mr. Robert Taylor, and Mr. John Pyne, 
Whereupon this General Meeting elected, by ballot, 
the said Mr. Francis Hayman, Mr. James Wills, 
Mr. Joseph Highmore, Mr. Thomas Hudson, Mr. 
Allan Ramsay, Mr. George Lambert, Mr. Samuel 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


11 


Scott, Mr. Peter Monatny, Mr. Richard Wilson, 
Mr. Samuel Whale, % JVIr. Edward Hately, Mr. 
Thomas Carter, Mr. George Moser, Mr. Robert 
Taylor, and Mr. John Pyne, Governors and Guar¬ 
dians of this Hospital. 

“ Resolved ,— 

“That the said Artists, and Mr. Hogarth, Mr. 
Zinke, Mr. Rysbrach, and Mr Jacobson, or any 
three or more of them, be a Committee to meet an¬ 
nually on the 5th of November, to consider of what 
further ornaments may be added to this Hospital, 
without any expense to the Charity.” 

Whether these artists were previously associated 
as a Society elsewhere for the promotion of 
the Arts, or for conviviality, does not appear, or 
whether they began to form themselves from this 
time and out of this occasion, cannot be determined, 
but it seems probable that they were part of a So¬ 
ciety alluded to by Edwards, who says, “of the 
Dilettante Society, the author is not sufficiently in¬ 
formed to give a perfect account, and therefore can 
only relate the following circumstances. Its origi¬ 
nal institution was prior to either of those already 
mentioned. It commenced upon political principles, 
and, as far as it was then known to the public, was 
not approved, being considered as rather a disaffect¬ 
ed assembly. But they soon changed the object of 
their meetings and turned their attention to the en¬ 
couragement of the Arts, and made some attempts 
to assist in the establishment of a public academy.” 

Assuming that the artists who thus proposed to 


12 


MEMORANDA, 


hold an annual meeting at the Hospital, belonged to 
the Dilettante Society, it may be said that whatever 
their previous objects or bias might have been, their 
present purpose, notwithstanding the ominousness of 
the day fixed on for their meetings (viz. the 5th 
of November), originated in as harmless a con¬ 
spiracy as could be devised, that of plotting for the 
advancement of the Arts, and of a public Charity. 

It seems that these meetings, which commenced 
with the modest suggestion “ that any three or more 
of them be a Committee,” grew so mightily, that 
that which was intended to be a mere matter of bu¬ 
siness, ended (as most associations of Englishmen 
do) in an occasion of conviviality, and that on the 
5th of November of each succeeding year, and for 
many years, the artists of the day, and the patron- 
izers of the Arts, dined at the Hospital.* 

In the mean time, the donations in painting, &c., 
the result of these meetings, increased, and “ being 
exhibited to the public, drew a daily crowd of spec¬ 
tators in their splendid equipages ; and a visit to the 
Foundling became the most fashionable morning 
lounge of the Reign of George II. The ecldt thus 
excited in favor of the Arts, suggested the annual 
exhibition of the united artists, which Institution 
was the precursor of the Royal Academy.”! 

Hogarth was not only the principal contributor. 


* These Festivals were altogether distinct from similar meetings of the 
^ 0 Jach < year^ lelnSelVeS, hdd ° n the SeC ° nd Wednesda y m May, 

f Vide Catalogue Raisonhe of West’s pictures. 






































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































- -*v 





\ 


















r 


r 













FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


13 


but the leader of his brethren in all that related 
to ornamenting the Hospital, and therefore it is as 
much due to his benevolence and generosity, as to 
his distinguished talents, that his further connexion 
with the Institution should receive special notice in 
this compilation. 

At a Court of Governors on the 9th of May, 1750 
(Hogarth being present), 

“The Treasurer acquainted the General Court, 
that Mr. Hogarth had presented the Hospital with 
the remainder of the tickets Mr. Hogarth had left, 
for the chance of the picture he had painted, of 
The March to Finchley , in the time of the late Re¬ 
bellion ; and that the fortunate number for the said 
picture being among those tickets, the Hospital had 
received the said picture. 

“ Resolved ,— 

“ That the thanks of this General Court be given 
to Mr. Hogarth, for the said benefaction ; which the 
Vice-President accordingly did.” 

In the “ General Advertiser ” of the 1st of May, 
1750, the same circumstance is thus related. — 

“ Yesterday Mr. Hogarth’s subscription was 
closed, 1843 chances being subscribed for, Mr. 
Hogarth gave the remaining 167 chances to the 
Foundling Hospital, and the same night delivered 
the picture to the Governors.” 

Ireland, in his Illustrations of Hogarth, remarks 
as follows on this subject.— 

“ By the fortunate number being among those 
presented to a Charity, which he so much wished to 


14 


MEMOHANDA, 


serve, the artist was highly gratified. In a private 
house, it would have been in a degree secluded from 
the public, and by the lapse of time, have been 
transferred to those who could not appreciate its 
merit, and from either negligence or ignorance, might 
have been destroyed by damp walls, or effaced from 
the canvass by picture cleaners. Here, it was likely 
to remain a permanent and honourable testimony of 
his talents and liberality. Notwithstanding all this, 
Hogarth soon after waited upon the Treasurer of the 
Hospital, and acquainted him that if the Trustees 
thought proper, they were at liberty to dispose of 
the picture by auction. His motive for giving this 
permission it is not easy to assign, they might have 
their origin in his desire to enrich a foundation, 
which had his warmest wishes, or a natural, though 
ill-judged ambition to have his greatest work in the 
possession of some one who had a collection of the 
old masters, with whom he in no degree dreaded a 
competition. Whether his mind was actuated by 
these, or other causes, is not important; certain it is, 
that his opinion changed, he requested the trustees 
would not dispose of it, and never afterwards con¬ 
sented to the measure he himself had originally pro¬ 
posed. The late Duke of Ancaster’s father wished to 
become a purchaser, and once offered the trustees 
three hundred pounds for it. I have been told, that 
a much larger sum was since proffered by another 
gentleman.” 

It is related in the Gentleman’s Magazine, on the 
authority of an anonymous writer, “ that a Lady was 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


15 


the possessor of the fortunate number, and intended 
to present it to the Foundling Hospital. But that 
some person having suggested what a door would be 
open to scandal, were any of her sex to make such 
a present, it was given to Hogarth, on the express 
condition that it should be presented in his own 
name.” 

The next work which Hogarth presented, was 
“ Moses before Pharaoh’s Daughter.” This was 
painted expressly for the Hospital, and appears to 
have originated in a conjoint agreement, between 
Hayman, Highmore, Wills, and himself, that they 
should each fill up one of the compartments of the 
Court Room with pictures, uniform in size, and of 
suitable subjects taken from Scripture. 

The Hospital had thus obtained from Hogarth, a 
picture in each of the styles of painting which he 
had attempted, and it may be said, without liability 
of contradiction, that the best specimens of those 
styles are within its walls. 

It is a somewhat singular circumstance, that as 
Hogarth throughout his life uniformly opposed the 
establishment of a Public Academy of Arts, he 
should, by the very course he pursued in encou¬ 
raging and concentrating at the Foundling Hospital 
an exhibition of the talents of British artists, have 
himself promoted a consummation of the object 
which he had all along deprecated. “ In conse¬ 
quence,” says Nichols, “of the public attention 
bestowed upon the paintings presented to the Found¬ 
ling Hospital by Hogarth, the academy in St. 


16 


MEMORANDA, 


Martin’s Lane, began to form themselves into a more 
important body, and to teach the arts under regular 
professors. But, extraordinary as it may appear, 
this scheme was so far from being welcomed by 
Hogarth, as indicative of a brighter era in the Fine 
Arts, that he absolutely discouraged it, as tend¬ 
ing to allure many young men into a profession 
in which they would not be able to support them¬ 
selves, and at the same time to degrade what 
ought to be a liberal profession, into a merely me¬ 
chanical one.” 

The annual meetings of the artists at the Hospital 
were held without interruption for a series of years, 
and they appear to have increased in importance as 
time advanced. The purpose with which they com¬ 
menced had been pursued with charitable ardour, 
and it is evident that incited by the result (a result 
unanticipated at the outset), the artists of London 
were looking forward to other and more important 
objects. It is true that these meetings were unin¬ 
fluenced in their origin, except by a simple (tho’ 
noble") motive—the motive of benevolence, but as is 
often the case in small beginnings, a great end was 
accomplished. Hitherto, the artists of London had 
existed, as a Society, in sections only. At these 
aggregate meetings they were concentrated as one 
body, and all that mind had then brought to bear 
on Art, was diffused in social and edifying converse. 
Out of this arose the Academy which many of the 
artists had long cherished the hope of seeing rea¬ 
lized. Of those who thus met at the Foundling 

© 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


17 


Hospital, it may be satisfactory to give one exam¬ 
ple. The paper from which the names are taken 
is headed, “5th November, 1757, Dilettante, Vir¬ 
tuosi, Feast.”* 

It will be seen that the names are not placed in 
the order of merit, but as they appear accidentally 
in the original document. There were no less 


* The Dilettante Society appears by the following account from “ Smith’s 
Antiquarian Rambles,” to have been remodelled after this period. 

“ The next object of notoriety is the Thatched House Tavern, so called in 
1711. It will long be remembered as the place of meeting of some of the 
first clubs for rank and talent in England. 

“ The pictures which adorn the room in which the members of the 
Pilettante Society hold their meetings, are portraits of many of the members 
of that Society. 

“ Over the chimney of a back room, on the first floor, hangs a portrait of 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, with spectacles on, similar to the one in the Royal 
collection. This picture Avas presented by Sir Joshua, as the founder of the 
Club, which commenced in 1764, at the Turk’s Head Tavern, in Gerrard 
Street, Soho, though the annals are not earlier than April 7th, 1775. The 
Club, which originally consisted of thirty members, on the 7th May 1780 
was augmented to thirty-five, and not to exceed forty. 

“ On the death of the landlord of the ‘Turk’s Head,’ the club moved, in 
1783, to the sign of the ‘Prince,’ in Sackville Street, from thence to Bax¬ 
ter’s, in Dover Street, and then on the 17th January, 1792, to Parsloe’s, in 
St. James’s Street, and from thence, on the 26th of February, 1799, to the 
‘ Thatched House,’ where it now remains.” 

The same author also says—“ Another Society ,of Artists met under the 
auspices of Mr. Moser, in Peter’s Conrt, St. Martin’s Lane, from the year 
1739 to 1767. After continued squabbles, which had lasted many years, the 
principal artists, including Benjamin West, Richard Wilson, Edward 
Penny, Joseph Wilton, Sir William Chambers, G. M. Moser, Paul Sandby, 
and J. M. Newton, met together at the ‘ Turk’s Head,’ w r hcre many others 
having joined them, they agreed to petition the King (George the III.) to 
become Patron of a Royal Academy of Arts. His Majesty consented, and 
the new Society took a Room in Pall Mall, opposite to Market Lane, wdiere 
they remained until the King, in the year 1771, granted them Apartments 
in Old Somerset House.” 


D 



18 


MEMORANDA 


than 154 persons, more or less distinguished, who 
attended on this occasion, viz.— 


PAINTERS. 


Anrion 

Keeble 

Astley 

Lambert 

Brooking 

Liotard 

Baker 

Luders 

Casali, Chevalier 

Moser (and Chaser) 

Cotes, Sen. 

Meyer 

Cotes, Jun. 

Mathyas 

Catton 

Newton 

Cipriani 

Pine 

Chamberlain 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua 

Downes 

Richards 

Dawes 

Reibenstein 

Dalton 

Ramsay 

Evans 

Shackleton 

Euard 

Seere 

Dayman 

Scott 

Hudson 

Spencer 

Hone, Sen. 

Stuart 

Hone, Jun. 

Toms 

Haytley 

Wale 

Hogarth 

Wills, Rev. Mr. 

Hamilton 

Wilson, Richard 

Highmore 

Wilson, B. 

Kirby 

Zincke 

Zuccarelli. 


SCULPTORS. 

Collins 

Spang 

Cheere 

Tyler 

Carter 

Taylor 

Hayward 

Way 

Read 

Wilton, Sen. 

Roubilliac 

Wilton, Jun. 

Rysbrack 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


19 


ARCHITECTS. 


Chambers, Sir Wm. ' 

Keene 

Donowell 

Payne 

Gwynn 

Revett 

Jacobsen 

Sanderson 

Ware. 

ENGRAVERS. 

Basire 

Major 

Chambers 

Rooker 

Dacier 

Seaton 

Grignion 

Sullivan 

McArdel 

Strange, Sir lit. 

Muller 

Walker 

Yeo. 

Bedwell 

Carry 

*Beard 

Devall 

Bowman 

Dingley 

Blackwood 

Darby 

Bencraft 

Eaton, Sen. 

2 Bonneau 

Eaton, Jun. 

Bayntum 

Ellys 

3 Belchier 

7 Forrest, Jun. 

Barton 

Fauquire 

Beckford, Alderman 

Fogg 

4 Cadogan, Dr. 

8 Freke 

5 Conyers, Dr. 

9 Francklin, Dr. 

Crouch 

10 Goodchild 

6 Colbeck 

Grosvenor 

Combs 

n Hanway, Jonas 


i A celebrated Singer. 2 Drawing Master. 3 Surgeon. 4 Author of a 
Dissertation on Gout, &c. 5 Physician to the Hospital. 6 Counseller. 

7 Friend of Hogarth. 8 Surgeon of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. 9 Trans¬ 
lator of Sophocles, &c. 10 One of the Founders of the Society of Arts, 

n The celebrated Philanthropist. 







10 


MEMORANDA, 


Hatsell 
Hawley, Dr. 

Hankey, Sir Joseph 
Hughes 
Ives 

^ockman 

* Langford 
Mead, Jun. 

3 Morton, Dr, 

Ongley 
Partington 
Phillips 

4 Reynardson 
Reydezel, Baron 
Radclif 
Rowe 

^Stukeley, Dr. 

Stevens 
Saunders 

6 Scott 

There is a halo surrounding the past, especially 
when associated with men of talent, which brings 
many pleasing, though, perhaps, exaggerated feel- 
It is this which causes us to regret our 
lighted acquaintance with their habits and conver¬ 
sation, and often could we desire that at every con¬ 
gregation of genius and talent, a Boswell was 
present to hand down to us their words and their 

1 Translator of Poree’s Oration, &c. 1 2 Auctioneer. 3 Principal Libra¬ 

rian of British Museum. 4 Fellow of the Society of Arts at the time of its 

Incorporation. 5 Celebrated Antiquary. 6 Organist. 7 First Organist of 

the Foundling Chapel, and Amanuensis to Handel. 8 Surgeon of the Hos¬ 

pital. 9 Bookseller. 10 Printer, 44 Treasurer of the Hospital. 42 An 

Active Governor, and afterwards Treasurer. 13 Friend of Hogarth, and 

Father-in-Law to Nollekins, the Sculptor. 


Scarlet 
Spencer 
Stuart, Captain 
7 Smith 
Sherif, Tom 
8 Tomkyns 
Trent, Rev. Mr. 
9 Tonson 
10 Tindal 
Vere 
Vernon 
Wilder 
n White 
12 Whatley 
Wynde 
Woodward 
Webb 
Williams 
Wegg 

13 Welsh, Justice. 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


21 


witj so as to bring them in closer union with us* 
But this is not the fortuitous lot of every great 
man (as it was that of Dr. Johnson), and therefore 
we are left to'our imagination to supply the space 
which is void by the absence of facts. Such is the 
case with these meetings of the artists at the Found¬ 
ling Hospital. 

In the course of this work a succinct account will 
be given of several of the most eminent of them, 
and of their Donations to the Hospital. There are 
others in the list, whose history is now almost 
forgotten, and therefore the following gleanings of 
a few of them may be interesting. Though dazzled 
by the luminaries in art of these days, we must not 
forget that their fires have been kindled by the 
lesser lights of the past. 

* John Astley. —Was born at Wem, in Shrop¬ 
shire, and received his early education in the country. 
His father was of the medical profession. When of 
age to assume a profession himself, he was sent to 
London, and placed as a pupil under the or — of 
Hudson. It is not known how long he staid h 
his master, but when he left him he visited Rome* 
and was there about the same time with Sir Joshua 
Reynolds. After his return to England, he resided 
at a friend’s house for some months in London, and 
from thence went to Dublin, where he practised 
as a painter for about three years, and in that 


* These Biographical Notices are extracted, for the most part, from 
Edwards’s “Anecdotes of Painters,” long since out of print. 



22 


MEMORANDA, 


time acquired three thousand pounds by his pencil. 
His next adventure is narrated in the words of 
one who was well acquainted with him. <f As 
he was painting his way back to London, in his own 
post-chaise, with an out-rider, he loitered with a 
little pardonable vanity in his native neighbourhood, 
and visiting Nutsford Assembly, with another gen¬ 
tleman, Lady Daniel, a widow then present, was at 
once so won by his appearance, that she contrived 
to sit to him for her portrait, and then made him the 
offer of her hand, a boon which he did not think it 
prudent to refuse.” In the decline of his life, he 
appeared to be disturbed by reflections upon the 
dissipated conduct of his early days, and when near 
his end, was not without apprehension of being re¬ 
duced to indigence and want. He died at his house, 
Duckenfield Lodge, Cheshire, 14th November, 1787, 
and was buried at the church of that village. 

John Baker.— A painter of flowers, was chiefly 
employed in ornamenting coaches, and had been 
regularly bred a coach-painter. At the foundation 
of the Royal Academy he was chosen one of the 
members, but did not long enjoy that honour, for 
he died in the year 1771. 

Charles Catton. —Was born at Norwich, and 
apprenticed to a coach-painter in London, of the 
name of Maxfield. With a laudable ambition to 
improve his talents in art, he became a member of 
the Academy in St. Martin’s Lane, where he ac¬ 
quired a knowledge of the human figure, which, 
together with his natural taste, ranked him above 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


23 


all others of his profession in London. He was the 
first Herald-painter who ventured to correct the 
bad manner of painting the supporters of coats of 
arms, which had long been the practice of his 
predecessors, whose representations of animals are 
considered as heraldic fictions rather than the 
resemblances of animated nature. At the founda¬ 
tion of the Royal Academy he was appointed one 
of the members. 

John Baptist Cipriani.— Descended from an 
ancient family in Florence, where he was born. He 
received his first instruction from an English artist 
of the name of Heckford, who had settled in that 
city, and afterwards went under the tuition of 
Gabiani, a painter of celebrity at that time in Italy. 
In August, 1755, he came to England with Wilton 
and Sir William Chambers, on their return from 
the Continent, and was patronized in this country 
by the late Earl of Tilney. At the foundation of 
the Royal Academy, he was chosen one of the 
members ; he was also employed to make the de¬ 
sign for the diploma which is given to the acade¬ 
micians and associates at their admission to the 
Society. This work he executed with great taste 
and elegance. For this he received a Silver Cup, up¬ 
on which was engraved the following inscription,— 
“ This Cup is presented to J. B. Cipriani, R.A.by 
the President and Council of the Royal Academy 
of Arts in London, as an acknowledgment for the 
assistance the Academy has received from his great 
abilities in his profession.” 


24 


MEMORANDA, 


Mason Chamberlain.— Was employed, in the 
early part of his life, as a clerk in a merchant’s 
counting-house, but afterwards became the pupil of 
Hayman. He resided in the vicinity of Spitalfields, 
where he painted portraits with tolerable success, 
some of which possess great force and resemblance, 
as those of Dr. Chandler, and of Mr. Catton the 
artist, both of which were exhibited. When the 
Royal' Academy was founded he was chosen one 
of its members. He died in January, 1787. 

Cheere.— He succeeded John Van Nost, a sta¬ 
tuary, in St. Martin’s Lane, in 1739. Cheere served 
his time to his brother Sir Henry Cheere, the sta¬ 
tuary, who executed several monuments in West¬ 
minster Abbey. 

Richard Dalton.— Was a native of Cumberland, 
and apprenticed to a coach-painter in Clerkenwell. 
After quitting his master he went to Rome to 
pursue the study of painting, where meeting with 
Lord Charlemont, he was engaged by his Lordship 
to accompany him to Greece, about the year 1749. 
On his return to England, he was, by the interest 
of his noble patron, introduced to the notice of 
George III. (then Prince of Wales), who, after his 
accession to the throne, appointed him his librarian. 
Soon after his appointment, it was determined to 
form a noble collection of drawings, medals, &c., for 
which purpose Mr. Dalton was sent to Italy to col¬ 
lect the various articles suited to the intention. 
The object of his tour being accomplished, he 
re-visited London, and when the Royal Cabinet was 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


25 


adjusted, his department of librarian was changed 
to that of keeper of the drawings, and medals. 
Upon the death of Mr. Knapton, he was by his 
Majesty appointed surveyor of the pictures in the 
Palaces. Upon his first appointment at Court he 
had apartments at St. James’s Palace, where he re¬ 
sided till his death, which was in February, 1791. 
When the Society of Artists was incorporated by 
Charter, he was appointed the Treasurer, but soon 
resigned the office, in consequence of the dissensions 
which took place in that Institution. 

Behnakd Downes. —Was a portrait painter, who 
resided in London, and occasionally visited different 
parts of the country. His name stands in the second 
exhibition catalogue and is continued till the year 
1775, when he ceased to exhibit. He did not long 
survive. 

Philip Dawes. —The natural son of a gentleman 
in the City, was the pupil of Hogarth, but did not 
inherit any great portion of his master’s spirit, 
though he endeavoured to tread in his steps. In 
the year 1760, he was among those artists who be¬ 
came candidates for the premium offered by the 
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. for the 
best historical picture ; but his exertions were not 
attended with success, nor did he meet with much 
employment: on which account his circumstances 
were rather confined, till the death of his father, 
who left him a decent competency, which rendered 
the latter part of his life comfortable. His name 
stands in the catalogue of the first exhibition, in 

E 


26 


MEMORANDA, 


which was the picture he painted for the premium ; 
the subject, Mortimer taken Prisoner by Edward 
the Third in Nottingham Castle. In the following 
year, he also exhibited two pictures at the Room 
in Spring Gardens; one of them from Johnson’s 
Comedy of “ Every Man in his Humour;” the 
scene, Captain Bobadil cudgelled, from which there 
is an engraved print. His best pictures bear a re¬ 
semblance to the manner of his master, and some of 
them have been dignified with the name of Hogarth ; 
but such misnomers have only betrayed a want of 
knowledge, or integrity, in those by whom they 
were thus distinguished. It is not certainly known 
when he died, but it is supposed before the year 
1780. 

George Evans.— Practised chiefly as a house- 
painter, but frequently painted portraits, of which 
he exhibited a specimen in 1764. He was for some 
time a member of the private Academy in St. 
Martin’s Lane. He died before the year 1770. 

John Gwynn resided in Little Court, Castle 
Street, Leicester Fields. He was an architect, and 
built, among other works, the Bridge at Shrews¬ 
bury; with which the inhabitants were so much 
pleased, that a portrait of him was voted to be put up 
in the Town-hall. He was supported by his steady 
friend Dr. Johnson, who wrote several powerful 
letters concerning his talent and integrity ; particu¬ 
larly when Gwynn held a long and serious compe- 
titorship with Milne for the designing and building 
Blackfriars Bridge. Gwynn was the professed 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


27 


author of that most ingenious and entertaining work, 
entitled “ London and Westminster Improved.” His 
friend, the Doctor, wrote the preface, and to the 
credit of this production, the public have availed 
themselves of his suggestions, and very copiously 
too, in the late extensive and liberal improvements 
of New London, for so it must now be considered. 
Boswell relates a conversation between Gwynn and 
Dr. Johnson as follows. “ Gwynn was a fine lively 
rattling fellow. Dr. Johnson kept him in subjec¬ 
tion, but with a kindly authority. The spirit of 
the artist, however, rose against what he thought a 
Gothic attack, and he made a brisk defence. ‘ What 
Sir, you will allow no value to beauty in architecture 
or statuary ? Why should we allow it then in writ¬ 
ing ? Why do you take the trouble to give us so many 
fine allusions, and bright images, and elegant phrases? 
You might convey all your instruction without these 
ornaments.’ Johnson smiled with complacency; 
but said, ‘Why, Sir, all these ornaments are useful, 
because they obtain an easier reception for truth; 
but a building is not at all more convenient for being 
decorated with superfluous carved work.’ Gwynn 
at last was lucky enough to make one reply to Dr. 
Johnson, which he allowed to be excellent. Johnson 
censured him for taking down a church, which might 
have stood many years, and building a new one at a 
different place, for no other reason but that there 
might be a direct road to a new bridge; and his ex¬ 
pression was, ‘ you are taking a church out of the 
way, that the people may go in a straight line to the 


28 


MEMORANDA, 


bridge.’ 4 No, Sir,’ said Gwynn, ‘ I am putting the 
church in the way , that the people may not go 
out of the way .’ Johnson (with a hearty loud laugh 
of approbation) said * speak no more. Rest your 
colloquial fame upon this.’ ” 

Gavin Hamilton. —A painter of considerable 
estimation, who practised in history, and sometimes 
painted portraits. He was of a good family, and was 
born at Lanark, in North Britain. When young 
he went to Rome ; and was the pupil of Augustine 
Massuchi. He resided but little in England, though 
he was certainly settled here about 1752, as there 
are two prints after pictures which he painted of the 
Duchess of Hamilton, and her sister, the Countess of 
Coventry, who were at that time the celebrated 
beauties of the English Court. He also painted a 
picture of Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Wood, at their first 
discovery of the ruins of Palmyra, figures as large 
as life, from which there is a print engraved by Mr. 
Hall. After having painted those pictures he returned 
to Rome, where he resided till the death of his elder 
brother, when he came to England to take possession 
of the property which descended to him ; but he 
staid a very short time* as he disliked the country 
and the climate, and therefore returned to his 
favourite city, where he continued till his death, 
which happened in the summer of 1797. 

Theodore Jacobsen was architect of the Found- 
ling Hospital, and of the Royal Hospital at Gosport. 
He was fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian So¬ 
cieties, and member of the Arts and Sciences. He 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


29 


died in May, 1772, and was buried in the vault 
of his family, in Allhallows Church, Thames Street, 
London. 

Joshua Kirby. —Resided in the early part of his 
life at Ipswich, in Suffolk, where he practised as a 
coach and house-painter, and where he formed a 
lasting friendship with Gainsborough. Having a turn 
for mathematical inquiries, he studied perspective, 
in which he acquired so much skill, as enabled him 
to produce and publish a Treatise on that science. 
This work he dedicated to Hogarth, from whom 
he obtained a design for the frontispiece. This 
introduced him to the acquaintance of most of the 
artists of that time. He also obtained the notice of 
Mr. Chambers, by whose recommendation he had 
the honour of instructing George III. (then Prince 
of Wales) in the science of perspective. He also 
practised as a landscape painter, and exhibited 
several pictures, views of different places. When 
the Chartered Society of Artists was disturbed by 
the conduct of a party of its members, Mr. Kirby 
was, by the mal-contents, elected President in the 
place of Hay man. 

William Keeble. —Was a painter of portraits, 
and in the year 1754, was a member of the Academy 
in St. Martin’s Lane. There is a mezzotinto print 
by McArdell, which was executed after a picture 
painted by Mr. Keeble. It is the whole-length por¬ 
trait of Sir Crisp Gascoyne, Knight, Lord Mayor of 
London, in 1753. 

John Stephen Liotard was born at Geneva, in 


30 


MEMORANDA, 


1702. He came over (says Walpolej in the reign of 
George TI., and stayed two years. He painted ad¬ 
mirably well in miniature, and finely in enamel, 
though he seldom practised it. But he is best 
known by his works in crayons. His likenesses 
were as exact as possible, and too like to please 
those who sat to him : thus he had great business 
the first year, and very little the second. Devoid of 
imagination, and one would think of memory also, he 
could render nothing but what he saw before his 
eyes. Freckles, marks of the small pox, every thing 
found its place ; not so much from fidelity, as be¬ 
cause he could not conceive the absence of anything 
that appeared to him. Truth prevailed in all his 
works, grace in very few or none. Nor was there 
any ease in his outline; but the stiffness of a bust 
in all his portraits. Thence, though more faithful 
to a likeness, his heads want air and the softness 
of flesh, so conspicuous in Rosalba's pictures. 

Henry Robert Morland.— Was the pupil of 
his father, a painter, who lived on the lower side of 
St. James’s Square. He was among the first ex¬ 
hibitors in the year 1760, when the subject of his 
picture was a “ Boy’s Head,” in crayons, one of the 
best of his productions. He was rather an unsettled 
man, frequently changing his residence ; but in the 
latter part of his life he resided in Stephen Street, 
Rathbone Place, where he died in December, 1797, 
about seventy-three years of age. Of the children 
which he left, his eldest son, George , was a remark¬ 
able example of abilities in art, and at the same 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


31 


time of depravity in maimers and morals. As an 
artist, he received his' first instructions from his 
father, but very soon surpassed his master. His 
early productions were landscapes, and he painted 
one or two small conversation pieces, but his fa¬ 
vourite subjects were animals, chiefly of the domestic 
kind—horses, dogs, pigs, and other cattle, which he 
painted in a very masterly manner. 

“ McAkdell” (says Smith in his Life of Nolle- 
kens), “ resided at the Golden Ball, Henrietta Street, 
Covent Garden. Of the numerous and splendid 
productions of this excellent engraver from pictures 
by Sir Joshua, nothing can be said after the declara¬ 
tion of Reynolds himself, that ‘ McArdell’s prints 
would immortalize him ; ’ however, I will venture 
to indulge in one remark more, namely, that that 
engraver has conferred immortality also upon him¬ 
self in his wonderful print from Hogarth’s picture of 
Captain Coram, the founder of the Foundling Hos~ 
pital. A brilliant proof of this head in its finest 
possible state of condition, in my humble opinion, 
surpasses any thing in mezzotinto now extant.” 

George Michael Moser. —Born at Schaffhausen 
in Switzerland. When young, he visited a distant 
Canton, where he met with one of his townsmen, 
and being inclined to travel, was soon persuaded to 
make a tour to England. He and his companion 
performed the journey together, chiefly through 
France, riding and walking occasionally, as best 
suited their convenience and finances. When they 
arrived in London, the person to whom Mr. Moser 


32 


MEMORANDA, 


had letters of recommendation, introduced him to 
the notice of Mr. Trotter, at that time a celebrated 
cabinet-maker and upholsterer, in Soho, by whom 
he was employed as chaser for the brass decorations 
of cabinets, tables, and such articles of furniture as 
required those species of ornaments, which at that 
time were in fashion. At the foundation of the 
Royal Academy in 1768, Mr. Moser was appointed 
the keeper; and when the king was pleased to fix 
the Institution at Somerset House, he had apart¬ 
ments allotted to him in that ancient palace, where 
he resided until the present building was finished, 
when suitable accommodations were allotted to the 
keeper. This situation Mr. Moser continued to fill, 
with the greatest respectability, till his death, which 
happened the 23rd January 1783 : and such was the 
respect which the students entertained for him, that 
many of them voluntarily attended his funeral. He 
was interred in the burial-ground of Covent Garden. 
As an artist, Mr. Moser ranked very high, for his 
abilities were not confined merely to chasing ; he 
also might be considered as one of our best medalists, 
as is sufficiently testified by several of his works in 
that line of art. He likewise painted in enamel with 
great beauty and accuracy, and many of his produc¬ 
tions, particularly some watch-cases, were most 
elegant and classical in their enrichments. He was 
well skilled in the construction of the human figure, 
and, as an instructor in the academy, his manners, 
as well as his abilities, rendered him a most respect¬ 
able master to the students. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


33 


Jeremiah Meyers —Born at Tubingen, in the 
Duchy of Wurtemberg.' He came to England when 
fourteen years old, in company with his father, who 
was a painter of small subjects, of no great talent. 
The son pursued miniature painting, and studied 
under Zincke, who at that time was deservedly 
esteemed, particularly for his miniatures in enamel; 
but Meyers surpassed his master in the elegance 
and gusto of his portraits, a superiority, which he 
acquired by his attention to the works of Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, who, as well as himself, was at that time 
rising to fame. In the year 1761, the Society for 
the Encouragement of Arts offered a premium of 
twenty guineas for the best drawing of a profile of 
the king, for the purpose of having a die engraved 
from it, and Meyers obtained the prize. He was 
afterwards appointed miniature painter to the queen. 
Mr. Meyers was many years a member of the 
Academy in St. Martin’s Lane, and at the institu¬ 
tion of the Royal Academy he was chosen one of 
the members. He long resided in Covent Garden ; 
but at the latter part of his life retired to Kew, 
where he died the 20th January, 1789, and was 
buried there. 

Gabriel Mathyas. —This gentleman for some 
years practised as a painter, and, as he himself hu¬ 
mourously observed, was at Rome upon his studies 
long enough to have painted like Raphael; but his 
talents did not qualify him to attain so elevated a 
rank in art. In the exhibition of the year 1761, 
at the Society’s Room in the Strand, there were 

F 


34 


MEMORANDA, 


pictures by him ; one in particular of a sailor spli¬ 
cing a rope, from which there is a mezzotinto print 
by McArdell. He continued to exhibit for about two 
years after, when he ceased to practice the art, and 
confined his attention to the duties of his situation, 
as he possessed a respectable appointment in the 
Office of the Privy Purse. He chiefly resided at 
Acton, where he died the latter part of the year 
1804, at a very advanced age. 

Francis Milner Newton. —A portrait painter, 
the pupil of M. Teuscher. At a time when the 
artists were accustomed to assemble for their mutual 
benefit, before they obtained a Charter, Mr. Newton 
was generally chosen Secretary, and when they 
were incorporated, he was appointed to the same 
office. This situation he resigned in consequence 
of the disputes that took place among the members 
of that body. At the foundation of the Royal 
Academy he was chosen a member; he was also 
appointed the first Secretary to that Institution; 
and when the buildings at Somerset Place were 
finished, he had apartments allotted to him where 
he resided until December, 1788, when, finding the 
duties of his situation increase beyond his declining 
powers, he resigned his post, and was succeeded by 
Mr. Richards. He was for several years Deputy 
Muster master of England, but quitted that engage¬ 
ment some years before his death. 

Robert Edge Pine.— Bom in London, was the 
son of Mr. John Pine, the engraver, who executed 
and published an elegant edition of Horace, the 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


35 


whole of which is engraved. He chiefly practised 
as a portrait painter, and was considered among the 
best colourists of his time. He resided several 
years in St. Martin’s Lane. In the year 1760, he 
produced a picture as candidate for the premium 
then offered by the Society for the Encouragement 
of Arts, &c. for the best historical picture painted in 
oil colours ; the figures to be as large as life, and the 
subject to be taken from English history. Mr. Pine 
selected “the Surrender of Calais,” and obtained 
the first prize of one hundred guineas. 

Ravenet. —Was employed to engrave copper¬ 
plates from which the articles were stamped, con¬ 
sisting of scrolls, foliage, shells, pastoral subjects, 
and figures of every description. 

Reibenstein. —Was a native either of Holland 
or Germany, but resided in England several years. 
He chiefly painted draperies, sometimes portraits in 
oil. In the catalogues of the first and second exhibi¬ 
tions, his name is to be found as an exhibitor; the 
subjects of the pictures are—“ Dead Game and Still 
Life.” He was for some years a member of the Aca¬ 
demy in St. Martin’s Lane. He died about the 
year 1763. 

Nicholas Revett, younger son of Andrew 
Revett, Esq. of Brandeston Hall, Suffolk, was by 
profession an architect; and it was from him that 
Mr. Stuart first caught his ideas of that science, in 
which (quitting the painter’s art) he afterwards made 
so conspicuous a figure. Their acquaintance first 
began at Rome ; whence they travelled to Athens, 


3 G 


MEMORANDA, 


for the purpose of investigating the remains of an¬ 
cient grandeur still to be found in the ruins of that 
celebrated metropolis. Mr. Revett also travelled 
through Asia Minor with Dr. Chandler, and pub¬ 
lished the Ionian Antiquities, being engaged for that 
purpose by the Dilettante Society. At the distance 
of forty years, at the request of Sir Lionel Lyde, 
Bart., of Ayott St. Lawrence, Herts, Mr. Revett 
added another trophy to his architectural fame. 
The old church, at the back of Sir Lionel's mansion- 
house being dilapidated, though not incapable of 
restoration at a far less expense, it was determined 
to erect a new one fronting the house, at the western 
extremity of the park, in a style of architecture not 
confined to any one Grecian model. After the new 
church had been consecrated, and made use of, 
Bishop Thurlow refused his license to take down the 
old one, which still remains, with the monuments of 
its patrons and benefactors, a beautiful ruin. Mr. 
Revett, who was described in 1789, as “ occasionally 
enlivening a small select circle of friends with his 
lively conversation,” died at a very advanced age, 
in June 1804. The effects of his labours and re¬ 
searches will for ever remain monuments of his 
memory and talents as an artist, whilst those noble 
publications of Palmyra, Balbeck, and the Ionian 
Antiquities, are admitted into the cabinets of the 
curious. His valuable library of books of Architecture 
and Drawings by himself and others, including many 
on sacred subjects in four volumes by Dr. Stukeley, 
was sold by Mr. Christie.— Literary Anecdotes. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


37 


Paul Sandby. —Was born at Nottingham, 1732. 
In 1746, he came to London, and having an early 
predilection for the arts, procured admission into the 
Drawing-room of the Tower, where he first studied. 
He was a draughtsman of great eminence and was 
employed on public surveys. On the institution of 
the Royal Academy, he was elected a Royal Acade¬ 
mician. He died in 1809, in the 77th year of his 
age. He is said to have contributed much to the 
reputation of the English School of landscape paint¬ 
ing. His paintings in water colours are highly 
esteemed. 

Jarvis Spencer.— A miniature painter of much 
celebrity. He was originally a gentleman’s servant, 
but having a natural turn to the pursuits of art, 
amused himself with drawing. It happened that 
some one of the family with whom he lived sat for 
their portrait to a miniature-painter, and when the 
work was completed, it was shewn to him ; upon 
which he observed, that he thought he could copy 
it. This hint was received with much surprise, but 
he was indulged with permission to make the at¬ 
tempt, and his success was such, that he not only 
gave perfect satisfaction, but also acquired the en¬ 
couragement and patronage of those he served, and, 
by their interest, became a fashionable painter of 
the day. 

Luke Sullivan. —A native of Ireland, lodged at 
the White Bear, Piccadilly. “ I believe,” (says 
Smith), “ nothing has ever surpassed his etching of 
‘ the March to Finchley,’ from Hogarth’s picture in 


38 


MEMORANDA 


the Foundling Hospital. It is full of the painter’s 
effect, and though only an etching, every part is 
perfectly made out; and I most heartily wish, fine 
as the finished plate unquestionably is, that Hogarth 
had published it in its earliest state. Of this beau¬ 
tiful etching I have an impression under my care in 
the British Museum. Luke Sullivan was also a 
most exquisite miniature-painter, particularly of 
females. He was a handsome lively fellow; but 
being too much attached to what are denominated 
the good things of this world, he died in a miserable 
state of disease and poverty.” 

Strange. —“The followinganecdote of Sir Robert 
Strange,” (says Smith), “was related to me by the 
late Richard Cooper, who instructed Queen Char¬ 
lotte in drawing, and was for some time drawing 
master to Eton school. I shall endeavour to relate 
it as nearly as possible in his own words. ‘ Robert 
Strange,’ said he, ‘ was a countryman of mine, a 
North Briton, who served his time to my father as 
an engraver, and was a soldier in the rebel army of 
1745. It so happened, when Duke William put 
them to flight, that Strange, finding a door open, 
made his way into the house,—ascended to the first 
floor, and entered a room where a young lady was 
seated: she was at her needlework and singing. 
Young Strange implored her protection. The lady, 
without rising or being the least disconcerted, 
desired him to get under her hoop. He immediately 
stooped, and the amiable woman covered him up. 
Shortly after this, the house was searched ; the 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


39 


lady continued at her work singing as before, and 
the soldiers, upon entering the room, considering 
Miss Lumsdale alone, respectfully retired. Robert, 
as soon as the search was over, being released from 
his covering, kissed the hand of his protectress, at 
which moment, for the first time, he found himself 
in love. He married the lady ; and no persons, be¬ 
set as they were with early difficulties, lived more 
happily.’ Strange afterwards became a loyal man, 
though for a length of time he sighed to be pardoned 
by his king; who, however, was graciously pleased 
to be reconciled to him and afterwards knighted him. 
No man was more incessant in his application, or 
fonder of his art than Sir Robert Strange; nor 
could any publisher boast of more integrity as to his 
mode of delivering subscription impressions. He 
never took off more proofs than were really bespoken, 
and every name was put upon the print as it came 
out of the press, unless it were faulty, and then it 
was destroyed ; not laid aside for future sale, as has 
been the practice with some of our late publishers. 
Sir Robert Strange was born in 1721, and died in 
1792.” 

Samuel Scott.— Was not only the first painter 
of his own age, but one whose works will charm 
in every age. If he was but second to Vandevelde 
in sea-pieces, he excelled him in variety, and often 
introduced buildings in his pictures with consum¬ 
mate skill. His views of London Bridge, of the 
Quay at the Custom House, &c. were equal to his 
Marines, and his figures were judiciously chosen and 


40 


MEMORANDA, 


admirably painted ; nor were his washed drawings 
inferior to his finished pictures. The gout harassed 
and terminated his life; but he had formed a pupil 
who compensated for his loss to the public, Mr. 
Marlow. Mr. Scott died 12th of October, 1772, 
leaving an only daughter by his wife, who survived 
him till April, 1781.— Walpole. 

Michael Henry Spang. —Was a Dane, who 
drew the figure beautifully and with anatomical 
truth ; a most essential component of the art, indis¬ 
pensably requisite for all those who would climb to 
the summit of fame. Spang produced the small anato¬ 
mical figure so well known to every draughtsman 
who assiduously studies his art. He also designed 
and executed the figures on the pediment of Earl 
Spencer’s house in the Green Park, and the decora¬ 
tions on the screen at the Admiralty.— Smith . 

Peter Toms. —Was son of Mr. Toms, the en¬ 
graver, and a pupil of Hudson, and might be consi¬ 
dered as a portrait painter, but his chief excellence 
was in painting draperies. In that branch of the art, 
so useful to a fashionable face-painter, he was much 
employed, first by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and after¬ 
wards by Cotes ; he also executed some for Mr. 
West. Among the pictures which he did for Sir 
Joshua, are some very excellent; and candour must 
allow, that many of Sir Joshua’s best whole-lengths 
are those to which Toms painted the draperies; 
among them was the picture of Lady Elizabeth 
Keppell, in the dress she wore as bride-maid to 
the Queen; for which he was paid twelve guineas, 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


41 


a very slender price in proportion to the merit of the 
piece: but Sir Joshua'was not remarkably liberal 
upon these occasions, of which circumstance Mr. 
Toms did not neglect to complain. When the Royal 
Academy was founded, he was chosen one of the 
members. He had also an appointment in the 
Herald’s College. 

John Williams.— A portrait-painter, said to have 
been a pupil of Richardson. His name stands in 
the first exhibition catalogue to a half-length por¬ 
trait of Mr. Beard, the celebrated singer, from which 
there is a mezzotinto print by McArdell. This 
painter was very superior in abilities to many of his 
cotemporary artists, as was evinced by a three- 
quarter portrait, exhibited at the Society’s Rooms in 
the Strand, 1761, which was much and deservedly 
admired. 

Benjamin Wilson. —A native of Yorkshire. His 
father was in the clothing trade at Leeds, who, meet¬ 
ing with misfortunes, was not able to give his son 
much assistance. When young he was sent to 
London, recommended to Dr. Berdmore, master of 
the Charterhouse, who patronized him. It is not 
known whether he received any regular education as 
an artist; but, by his natural talents and steady ap¬ 
plication, he acquired very considerable abilities as 
a portrait-painter, and may be truly said to have 
assisted much in improving the manner of portraiture. 
He endeavoured to introduce a better style of chiaro 
scuro into his pictures, and the colouring of his 
heads had more of warmth and nature than the 


G 


42 


MEMORANDA, 


general class of his cotemporary artists could infuse 
into their works. 

Westfield Webb.—A painter of portraits, who 
resided chiefly in St. Martin’s Lane. In the exhi¬ 
bition of 1762 , there was a whole-length portrait of 
Miss Brent, a celebrated singer of that time, painted 
by this artist. He continued to exhibit until the 
year 1772 , about which time he died. His works 
are various in their subjects, sometimes landscapes, 
at other times flowers. 

Ware.—A thin sickly little boy, a chimney¬ 
sweeper, was amusing himself one morning by draw¬ 
ing, with a piece of chalk, the street front of White¬ 
hall, upon the basement stones of the building itself, 
carrying his delineations as far as his little arms 
could possibly reach ; and this he was accomplishing 
by occasionally running into the middle of the street, 
to look up at the noble edifice, and then returning 
to the base of the building to proceed with his ele¬ 
vation. It happened that his operations caught the 
eye of a gentleman of considerable taste and fortune, 
as he was riding by. He checked the carriage, and 
after a few minutes observation, called to the boy to 
come to him, who, upon being asked where he lived, 
immediately burst into tears, and begged of the gen¬ 
tleman not to tell his master, assuring him he would 
wipe it all off. “ Don’t be alarmed,” answered the 
gentleman, at the same time throwing him a shilling, 
to convince him he intended him no harm. This 
boy was young Ware. His benefactor then went 
instantly to his master, in Charles Court, in the 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


43 


Strand, who gave the boy a most excellent character, 
at the same time declaring him to be of little use to 
him, in consequence of his natural bodily weakness. 
He said he was fully aware of his fondness for chalk¬ 
ing, and showed his visitor what a state his walls 
were in, from the young artist having drawn the 
portico of St. Martin’s Church upon them, in va¬ 
rious places. The gentleman purchased the re¬ 
mainder of the boy’s time, gave him an excellent 
education, then sent him to Italy, and upon his re¬ 
turn, employed him, and introduced him to his 
friends as an architect.— Smith. 

Joseph Wilton. —Was born in London, July 16th, 
1722. He was the son of a plasterer, who, by a 
vast increase of income, arising principally from a 
manufactory, in imitation of that in France, which 
he established for making the papier-machie orna¬ 
ments for chimney-pieces, and frames for looking- 
glasses, was enabled to rebuild his premises on the 
south-west corner of Hedge Lane, Charing Cross. 
Joseph, having a strong natural inclination to become 
a sculptor, was taken by his father to Nivelle, in 
Brabant, to study under Lament Delvaux, an artist, 
who had for several years resided in London. From 
Nivelle, in 1744, he went to Paris, where he assi¬ 
duously studied in the academy directed by the 
famous sculptor, Pigalle, so warmly patronized by 
Voltaire, of whom Pigalle made a truly spirited bust. 
In 1747, after gaining the silver medal, and having 
acquired the power of cutting marble, he, accom¬ 
panied by Roubilliac, the sculptor, went to Rome, 


44 


MEMORAN DA, 


where, in 1750, he not only had the honour of re¬ 
ceiving the jubilee gold medal, engraved by Hame- 
rani, given by Pope Benedict XIV., but acquired 
the patronage of William Locke, Esq. 

Francis Zuccarelli. —A native of Florence. In 
the early part of his life he studied as an historical 
painter, but afterwards confined his practice to the 
painting of landscape, with small figures, in which 
he acquired a very beautiful manner both of com¬ 
posing and executing his pictures. At the founda¬ 
tion of the Royal Academy, he was chosen a mem¬ 
ber. About the year 1759, he painted a set of 
designs for tapestries, which were executed in the 
manufactory of Paul Saunders, the upholsterer, who 
at that time possessed a patent as tapestry weaver to 
his Majesty. They were wrought for the late Earl 
of Egremont, to decorate some part of the house 
which he built in Piccadilly. 

Christian Frederick Zincke. —Was born at 
Dresden about 1684, and came to England in 1706, 
where he studied under Boit, whom, at length, he 
not only surpassed, but rivalled Petitot. “ I have,” 
(says Walpole,) “a head of Cowley, by him, after 
Sir Peter Lely, which is allowed to excel any single 
work of that charming enameller. The impassioned 
glow of sentiment, the eyes swimming with youth 
and tenderness, and the natural fall of the long 
ringlets that flow round the unbuttoned collar, are 
rendered with the most exquisite nature, and finished 
with elaborate care.” For a great number of years 
Mr. Zincke had as much business as he could exe- 





\ 







I 




















FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


45 


cute; and when, at last, he raised his price from 
twenty to thirty guineas, it was occasioned by a 
desire of lessening his fatigue ; for no man, so supe¬ 
rior in his profession, was less intoxicated with 
vanity. 


In the year 1760 the Hospital, being then under 
the patronage of Parliament, who contributed large 
sums of money upon condition that all children ten¬ 
dered for admission should be received, had grown 
to such an extent as to embrace within its arms 
several thousands of Children, so that the Governors 
were obliged to open Branch Establishments in 
the Country to receive them. One of these esta¬ 
blishments was at Ackworth, in Yorkshire. At this 
place the children were usefully employed in the * 
manufacture of cloth. This led some of the artists 
to the benevolent and enthusiastic idea of promoting 
the good of the Charity by appearing at their Festi¬ 
val in 1761, in clothing made by these children. 

The curious document annexed is confirmatory of 
this interesting circumstance, and as evidence of the 
earnestness of the artists in this step, there is extant 
a letter dated 15th December, 1760, from the Rev. 
Dr. Lee, the indefatigable Governor of the Hospital 
at Ackworth, in which he says to the Treasurer in 
London, “ Mr. Paine has wrote about clothing for 
the artists of the Turk’s Head Club, and I should be 
glad to know if the twenty you speak of are not the 
same he writes about, and says will be in number 



46 


MEMORANDA, 


sixty in a little time. He writes in the name of 
those gentlemen who will honour us with an uniform 
against their next Annual Meeting. I am to send 
him patterns of colours, but hope he ’ll choose that 
of your coat or something near it, because the deep 
coppers, from the nature of the dye, render the wool 
too tender for the spinning of our young artists to 
make any moderate profit. Of this you ’ll please to 
give him a hint, as it may not be so proper to insert 
it in my letter to him, which probably he will show 
to his brethren.” 

At what precise period these meetings of the 
artists at the Hospital ceased is not known, but there 
is no doubt that as the Royal Academy, which was 
founded in 1768, became established and console 
dated, the convivial presence of its members was 
transferred to a more appropriate arena. The “ Gen¬ 
tleman’s Magazine,” of the 5th November, 1763, 
thus testifies that up to that period the meetings 
were still continued. 

“The Artists of London and Westminster held 
their Anniversary at the Foundling Hospital in com¬ 
memoration of the day, and were entertained by the 
Children with an Anthem. A blind boy performed 
on the organ, and a little girl of five years of age the 
solo part of the vocal music.” 

Charles Lamb, in one of his critical essays, re¬ 
marks that Hogarth seemed to take particular delight 
in introducing Children into his works. 

As evidence that this characteristic was not the 
mere ideality of a painter, but emanated from that 








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FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


47 


generous heart which guided his actions, the follow¬ 
ing anecdote of this extraordinary man is recorded. 

It was the practice at this period, of the Hospital 
(as indeed it is at the present time), to nurse the 
Infant Children of the establishment in the Country 
till about five years of age, by distributing them 
amongst cottagers in certain districts, superintended 
by competent authorities in the neighbourhood. 

These authorities formerly performed their interest¬ 
ing office gratuitously , and they consisted of resi¬ 
dent gentry or ladies. In or about the year 1760, the 
Governors at the request of Hogarth, sent several of 
these poor infants to Chiswick, where the painter 
resided, he engaging, along with Mrs. Hogarth, to 
see them properly taken care of. The annexed is a 
copy of his Bill for the Maintenance, &c. of two of 
these children, who were returned to the Hospital by 
Mrs. Hogarth at her husband’s death in 1764. It is 
impossible to revert to the life of Hogarth, so full of 
labour in his art, and at the latter period of his ex¬ 
istence, so charged with vexation and controversy, 
by reason of the defection and abuse of his quondam 
friends, Wilkes and Churchill, without feeling some 
degree of admiration for one who, amidst all this, 
should be found engaged in so humble a charity as 
that of watching over the destiny of parentless and 
helpless foundlings. 

Charity has the peculiar charm of engaging, for her 
attendants, men of all kinds of political sentiments, 
but even she is not free from the consequences of 
private enmity or animosity. This was evidenced by 


48 


MEMORANDA, 


the quarrel between Wilkes* and Hogarth. They 
were both associated in the same work of benevo¬ 
lence at the Foundling Hospital, meeting at the same 
board as Governors, but no sooner did a personal 
quarrel arise between them, than they ceased to at¬ 
tend in their places, as if each was afraid of meeting 
the other, even within the walls of Charity herself. 

“ Before the birth of Hogarth,” says Cunningham, 
“ there are many centuries in which we relied wholly 
on foreign skill. With him and after him arose a 
succession of eminent painters, who have spread the 
fame of British Art far and wide.” 

Of many of those who arose with him, and of a 
few that followed after, some further account will be 
found in the following pages. 


* The Governors had a Branch Hospital at Aylesbury (for which place 
Wilkes was returned toParliament), and they appointed him the Treasurer 
of that Hospital. When he left the Kingdom in 1764, some ugly disclosures 
connected with the Accounts took place, by no means creditable to “ honest 
John." 




Fac Sunile, of the Autograph of the celebrated 
John Wilkes, f.sy 1762. 


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FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


40 


CATALOGUE OF PICTURES, &c. 

AT THE 

FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


THE COURT ROOM. 

The subject of the first large picture in this room 
is that of 

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. 

“And the angel of the Lord called to Ha gar out 
of heaven , and said to her , What aileth thee , Hagar ? 
Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where 
he is 

By HIGHMORE. 

“ Joseph Highmore,” (says Walpole,) “ was bred 
a lawyer, but quitted that profession for painting, 
which he exercised with reputation amongst the 
successors of Kneller, under whom he entered into 
an academy, and living at first in the city, was much 
employed there for family pieces. He afterwards 
removed to Lincoln’s-inn-fields, and painted the 
portraits of the Knights of the Bath, on the revival 
h 



50 


MEMORANDA 


of that order, for the series of plates, which he first 
projected, and which were engraved by Pine. High- 
more published two pamphlets, one called ‘ A Cri¬ 
tical Examination of the Ceiling, painted by Rubens, 
in the Banqueting House,’ in which architecture is 
introduced, as far as relates to perspective, together 
with the discussion of a question which has been 
the subject of debate amongst painters; written 
many years since, but now first published, 17G4. 
The other ‘ The Practice of Perspective, on the prin¬ 
ciples of Dr. Brook Taylor, &c.’; written many 
years since, but now first published, 1764 ; quarto, 
with fifty copper plates. He had a daughter, who 
was married to a prebendary of Canterbury, and 
to her he retired on his quitting business, and died 
there in March, 1780, aged 88.” 


No. 2. 

LITTLE CHILDREN BROUGHT TO CHRIST. 

“ Jesus said , Suffer little children to come unto me and 
forbid them not , for of such is the kingdom of heaven .” 

By JAMES WILLS. 

Mr. James Wills was a portrait-painter, and he 
also painted some historical subjects, but not meet¬ 
ing with much success in his profession he quitted 
it, and, having received a liberal education, took 
orders. He was for several years Curate of Canons, 
in Middlesex, and at the death of the incum¬ 
bent, Mr. Hallett gave him the living, which he 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


51 


en J°y ed till his death. He died in the latter part of 
the year 1777. Ilis name stands in the first exhibi¬ 
tion catalogue to an historical subject, “ Liberality 
and Modesty.” He was also an exhibitor the fol¬ 
lowing* year, but his name is there inserted without 
any clerical distinction, he therefore at that time had 
not taken orders. Jn the year 1768, he was ap¬ 
pointed chaplain to the chartered society of artists, 
with a salary of thirty pounds a year. He preached 
one sermon (the text of which was taken from Job, 
Chap, xxxvii. verse 14. —Stand still, and consider 
the wondrous works of God,) at Covent Gar¬ 
den Church, on St. Luke’s Day, in the same year. 
This discourse was afterwards printed at the request 
of the society, but he did not long enjoy his appoint¬ 
ment, in consequence of the disputes which broke 
out among the members of that body. In the early 
part of his life he translated Fresnoys’s Art of 
Painting. 


No. 3. 

THE FINDING OF THE INFANT MOSES IN THE 
BULL-RUSHES. 

“ And the maid went and called the child's mother. 
And Pharoak's daughter said unto her , take this child 
and nurse it for me , and I will give thee thy wages” 

By FRANCIS HAYMAN, R.A. 

This painter was born in or near Exeter, and was 
the pupil of Brown. In the early part of his life, he 



52 


MEMORANDA, 


was much employed by Fleetwood, the proprietor of 
Drury Lane Theatre, for whom he painted many 
scenes. In the pursuit of his profession, he was not 
extremely assiduous, being more convivial than stu¬ 
dious, yet he acquired a very considerable degree of 
power in his art, and was unquestionably the best 
historical painter in the kingdom, before the arrival 
of Cipriani. It was this superiority of talent that 
introduced him to the notice of Mr. Jonathan Tiers, 
the founder and proprietor of Vauxhall, by whom he 
was much employed in decorating the gardens of 
that place. Walpole says, that the aforementioned 
works recommended him to much practice in making 
designs for books; the truth is, that his reputation 
as an artist was at that time very considerable, and 
this circumstance led the booksellers to employ him 
much in making drawings for the prints with which 
they chose to decorate their publications. When the 
artists were incorporated by charter, Lambert was 
appointed first President, but he dying shortly after. 
Hay man was chosen in his stead, in which office he 
remained till 1768, when, owing to the proceedings 
of the majority of the members of the Society he 
was no longer continued in that station. For this 
exclusion he was amply recompensed by the imme¬ 
diate foundation of the Royal Academy, of which he 
was chosen a member, and soon after appointed the 
librarian. This place he held till his death, which 
happened on February 2nd, 1776, in the 68th year 
of his age. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 53 

No. 4. 

MOSES BROUGHT TO PHAROAH’S DAUGHTER. 

“And the child grew , and she brought him unto 
Pharoah's daughter , and he became her son . And she 
called his name Moses .” 

By HOGARTH. 

“The subject of this picture,” says Nichols, “is 
taken at the point of time when the child’s mother, 
whom the princess considers as merely its nurse, 
has brought him to his patroness, and is receiving 
from the treasurer the wages of her services. 

“ The little foundling naturally clings to his nurse, 
though invited to leave her by the daughter of a 
monarch; and the eyes of an attendant and a whis¬ 
pering Ethiopian, convey an oblique suspicion that 
the child has a nearer affinity to their mistress than 
she chooses to acknowledge. 

“On the merits of this painting, two excellent 
critics have recorded very opposite opinions. 

“ Mr. John Ireland, who well understood the 
subject on which he treats, but had weighty reasons 
for bestowing praise on Hogarth, rather than cen¬ 
sure, observes that, considered as a whole, this pic¬ 
ture has a more historic air than we often find in the 
works of Hogarth. The royal Egyptian is graceful, 
and, in some degree, elevated; the treasurer is 
marked with austere dignity, and the jewess and 
child with nature. The scene is superb, and the 
distant prospect of pyramids, &c. highly picturesque 


54 


MEMORANDA, 


and appropriate to the country. To exhibit this 
scene, the artist has placed the group at such a dis¬ 
tance as to crowd the corners, and leave the centre 
unoccupied. As the Greeks are said to have re¬ 
ceived the rudiments of art from Egypt, the line of 
beauty on the base of a pillar is properly introduced. 
A crocodile creeping from under the stately chair, 
may be intended to mark the neighbourhood of the 
Nile, but is a poor and forced conceit. 

“ Mr. Stevens, whose discriminating taste is 
indisputable, but who scrutinized the works of 
Hogarth with an asperity somewhat too severe, says, 
* The daughter of the Egyptian monarch appears to 
more advantage in the print than on the canvass ; 
and the colouring is beneath criticism.’ 

“I have been told that the head of Pharaoh’s 
daughter was copied from one Seaton. Hogarth 
could not, like Guido, draw a Venus from a common 
porter.” 

On each side of these large pictures are smaller 
ones, of a circular form, representing the principal 
Hospitals of the day, viz.— 

GREENWICH HOSPITAL.—CHRIST’S HOSPITAL.— 

ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL. 

By SAMUEL WALE, R.A. 

Wale was born in London, and brought up as an 
engraver of plate; he afterwards studied design in 
the academy of St. Martin’s Lane. He also prac¬ 
tised painting, in which he imitated the manner of 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL., 55 

Ilayman, and executed several decorative pieces for 
ceilings: but his chief employment was among the 
booksellers, for whom he made many designs, the 
principal part of which were engraved by Mr. Grig- 
nion. He understood architecture and perspective, 
and greatly assisted Mr. Gwynn in the decorations 
of his architectural drawings, particularly in the sec¬ 
tion of St. Paul’s, and was of service to him in the 
literary part of his publications. At the establish¬ 
ment of the Royal Academy, Wale was chosen one 
of the members, and appointed the first professor of 
perspective in that institution. Upon the death of 
Mr. R. Wilson, he was also made librarian, both of 
which places he held till his death, which was on 
the 6th of February, 1786. For many years before 
his death, he was so infirm as not to be able to read 
his lectures in the academy, and was therefore per¬ 
mitted to give private instructions to the students at 
his own house. 


CHELSEA AND BETHLEM HOSPITALS. 

By HAYTLEY. 

This painter, who has considerable merit, and ob¬ 
tained some distinction amongst his brethren, is 
without a biographer, so that the particulars of his life 
and the date of his death are unknown. He was, 
however, made a governor of the Foundling Hospital 
in 1746, for his artistical donations, and was present 
at the festivals held annually by the artists in that 
establishment. 



56 


MEMORANDA, 


THE CHARTERHOUSE. 

By THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R. A. 

This excellent artist was born in 1727, at Sud¬ 
bury, in Suffolk. His father was a clothier in that 
town, and Thomas was the youngest of three sons. 
At a proper age he was sent to London, and placed 
under the tuition of Hayman, with whom he, how¬ 
ever, stayed but a short time. After quitting his 
master, he for some time resided in Hatton Garden, 
and practised painting of portraits of a small size, 
and also pursued his favourite subject, landscape. 
After residing a short time in London, he married a 
young lady who possessed an annuity of two hun¬ 
dred pounds, and then retired to Ipswich, in Suf¬ 
folk. From Ipswich Gainsborough removed to Bath, 
where he settled about the year 1758, and began his 
career as a portrait-painter, at the low price of five 
guineas for a three-quarter canvas: however, his 
great facility in producing a likeness, increased his 
employment and fame, and he soon raised his price 
from five to eight guineas. At Bath he resided 
several years, occasionally sending his works to the 
exhibition in London, which he did, for the first 
time in 1761. In 1774, he quitted Bath, and set¬ 
tled in London, in a part of the large house in Pall 
Mall, which was originally built by the Duke de 
Schomberg. In this respectable situation, possessed 
of fame, and in the acquisition of fortune, he was 
disturbed by a complaint in his neck, which was not 
much noticed upon the first attack, nor was it appre- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


57 


bended to be more than a swelling in the glands of 
the throat, which it was expected would subside in 
a short time; but it was soon discovered to be a 
cancer, which baffled the skill of the first medical 
professors. Finding the danger of his situation, he 
settled his affairs, and composed himself to meet 
the fatal moment, and calmly expired on the 2nd of 
August, 1788, in the sixty-first year of his age, 
and was buried, according to his own request, near 
the remains of his former friend, Mr. Kirby, in 
Kew Churchyard. His funeral was attended by 
Sir J. Reynolds, Sir William Chambers, Mr. P. 
Sandby, Mr. West, Mr. Bartolozzi, and Mr. Samuel 
Cotes. 

ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL, and FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 

By RICHARD WILSON, R. A. 

This eminent artist, it is believed, was born in 
Montgomeryshire, where his father, a clergyman, 
possessed a small benefice, but was afterwards col¬ 
lated to the living of Mould, in Flintshire, while the 
son was very young. His connections were highly 
respectable, being maternally related to the Lord 
Chancellor Camden, who acknowledged him as his 
cousin. At the time of life when it was necessary 
to fix on some profession, young Wilson was sent to 
London and placed under the tuition of T. Wright, 
a portrait-painter of very slender abilities. Wilson, 
however, acquired so much knowledge from his 
master, as to become a painter of portraits equal to 

i 



58 


MEMORANDA 


most of his contemporaries. He must also have ac¬ 
quired a degree of rank in his profession ; for about 
the year 1749, he painted a large picture of George 
the Third (then Prince of Wales), with his brother 
the Duke of York, for Dr. Hayter, Bishop of Nor¬ 
wich, at that time tutor to the princes. After having 
practised some years in London, he went to Italy, 
and was at Rome at the same time with several 
English artists, who afterwards became the orna¬ 
ments of their country. In Italy he continued to 
study portrait-painting, though not with the same 
success as attended Sir Joshua Reynolds ; for he 
was then unacquainted with the peculiar bias of his 
talents, and might probably have remained long 
ignorant of his latent powers, but for the following 
accident:— 

While Wilson was at Venice, he painted a small 
landscape, which, being seen by Zuccarelli, that 
artist was so much struck with the merit of the 
piece, that he strongly urged Wilson to pursue that 
branch of the art, which advice Wilson followed, 
and became one of the first landscape painters in 
Europe. His studies in landscape must have been 
attended with rapid success, for he had some pupils 
in that line of art while at Rome, and his works 
were so much esteemed, that Mengo painted his 
portrait, for which Wilson, in return, painted a land¬ 
scape. 

It is not known at what time he returned to Eng¬ 
land, but he was in London in 1758, and resided 
over the north arcade of the Piazza, Covent Garden, 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


59 


at which time he had obtained great celebrity as a 
landscape painter. 

To the first exhibition of 1760, he sent his picture 
of Niobe, which confirmed his reputation. 

In 1765, he exhibited (with other pictures) a view 
of Rome from the Villa Madama, which was pur¬ 
chased by the then Marquis of Tavistock. 

Though he had acquired great fame, yet he did 
not find that constant employment which his abili¬ 
ties deserved. This neglect might probably result 
from his own conduct, for it must be confessed that 
Wilson was not very attentive to his interest; and 
though a man of strong sense and superior education 
to most of the artists of his time, he did not possess 
that suavity of manners which distinguished many 
of his contemporaries. On this account his connec¬ 
tions and employment insensibly diminished, and 
left him in the latter part of his life in comfortless 
infirmity. When the Royal Academy was instituted, 
he was chosen one of the members, and after the 
death of Hayman, made the librarian, which situa¬ 
tion he retained until his decayed health compelled 
him to retire into Wales, where he died in May, 
1782, aged sixty-eight. 

Over the mantle-piece of the Court-room is a beau¬ 
tiful basso-relievo, 

By RYSBEACK, 

representing children engaged in navigation and 
husbandry, being the employments to which the chil¬ 
dren of the Hospital were supposed to be destined. 



GO 


MEMORANDA, 


John Michael Rysbrack, was born at Brussels, 
and was the son of a landscape-painter. He studied 
under Theodore Balant, a famous sculptor; came to 
England in 1720, and resided in Vere Street, Oxford 
Street, where he had extensive workshops, which 
his great run of business required. On these pre¬ 
mises he died, and was buried in Marylebone 
Churchyard, 11 th January, 1770. After his decease, 
there were sales by auction held at his house, in 
one of which was an immense number of his own 
drawings mounted with uniform borders, executed 
in bister; and some of the most excellent of them 
are still to be found in the portfolios of collectors. 
Rysbrack executed many busts for noblemen and 
others, and was much employed on mural and 
other monuments. 


The side table, of Grecian marble, is supported 
by carved figures in wood, representing children 
playing with a goat, and was presented by Mr. 
John Sanderson (architect), who was employed 
with others in the erection of the Hospital. 

There are also two fine busts, casts from the An¬ 
tique, one of Caracalla and the other of Marcus 
Aurelius. They were given by Mr. Richard Dalton, 
who held several important offices connected with the 
arts, and was sent to Italy by George III. to collect 
articles of vertu to enrich His Majesty’s collection. 

The ornamented ceiling was done by Mr. Wilton, 
the father of the eminent sculptor. 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


61 


COMMITTEE ROOM. 

THE MARCH TO FINCHLEY. 

By HOGARTH. 

The following is considered the most authentic 
account of this celebrated picture, and is from the 
pen of Mr. Justice Welsh, the intimate friend and 
companion of Hogarth. 

“ The scene of this representation is laid at Tot¬ 
tenham Court Turnpike ; the King’s Head, Adam 
and Eve, and the turnpike house, in full view ; be¬ 
yond which are discovered, parties of the guards, 
baggage,&c. marching towards Highgate, and a beau¬ 
tiful distant prospect of the country; the sky finely 
painted. The picture, considered together, affords 
a view of a military march, and the humours and 
disorders consequent thereupon. Near the centre 
of the picture, the painter has exhibited his princi¬ 
pal figure, which is a handsome young grenadier, in 
whose face is strongly depicted repentance mixed 
with pity and concern ; the occasion of which is 
disclosed by two females putting in their claim for 
his person, one of whom has hold of his right arm, 
and the other has seized his left. The figure upon 
his right hand, and perhaps placed there by the 
painter by way of preference, as the object of love 
is more desirable than that of duty, is a fine young 
girl in her person, debauched, with child, and re¬ 
duced to the miserable employ of selling ballads, 
and who, with a look full of love, tenderness, and 


62 


MEMORANDA, 


distress, casts up her eyes upon her undoer, and 
with tears descending down her cheeks, seems to 
say, ‘ sure you cannot—will not leave me! ’ The 
person and deportment of this figure well justifies 
the painters’s turning the body of the youth towards 
her. The woman upon the left is a strong contrast 
to this girl; for rage and jealousy have thrown the 
human countenance into no amiable or desirable 
form. This is the wife of the youth, who, finding 
him engaged with such an ugly slut , assaults him 
with a violence natural to a woman whose person 
and beauty are neglected. Added to the fury of her 
countenance, and the dreadful weapon her tongue, 
another terror appears in her hand, equally formid¬ 
able, which is a roll of papers, whereon is written 
‘ The Remembrancer; ’ a word of dire and triple 
import; for while it shows the occupation the 
amiable bearer is engaged in, it reminds the youth 
of an unfortunate circumstance he would gladly for¬ 
get ; and the same word is also a cant expression, 
to signify the blow she is meditating. And here, I 
value myself upon hitting the true meaning, and 
entering into the spirit of the great author of that 
celebrated Journal called, ‘ The Remembrancer.’ 

“ It is easily discernible that the two females are 
of different parties. The ballad of ‘ God save our 
noble King,’ and a print of ‘the Duke of Cumber¬ 
land,’ in the basket of the girl, and the cross upon 
the back of the wife, with the implements of her 
occupation, sufficiently denote the painter’s inten¬ 
tion ; and what is truly beautiful, these incidents are 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


63 


applicable to the march. The hard-favoured ser- 
jeant directly behind, who enjoys the foregoing scene, 
is not only a good contrast to the youth, but also, 
with other helps, throws forward the principal figure. 
Upon the right of the grenadier is a drummer, who 
also has his two remembrancers , a woman and a boy, 
the produce of their kinder hours; and who have 
laid their claim by a violent seizure upon his person. 
The figure of the woman is that of a complainant, 
who reminds him of her great application, as well in 
sending him clean to guard, as other kind offices 
done, and his promises to make her an honest woman, 
which he, base and ungrateful, has forgot, and pays 
her affection with neglect. The craning of her neck 
shows her remonstrances to be of the shrill kind, 
in which she is aided by the howling of her boy. 
The drummer, who has a mixture of fun and wicked¬ 
ness in his face, having heard as many reproaches as 
suit his present inclinations, with a bite of his lip 
and a leering eye, applies to the instrument of noise 
in his profession, and endeavours to drown the united 
clamour, in which he is luckily aided by the ear - 
piercing fife near him. 

“ Between the figures before described, but more 
back in the picture, appears the important but mea¬ 
gre phiz of a Frenchman, in close whisper with an 
Independent. The first I suppose a spy upon the 
motion of the army ; the other probably drawn into 
the crowd, in order to give intelligence to his bre¬ 
thren, at their next meeting, to commemorate their 
noble struggle in support of independence. The 


G4 


MEMORANDA, 


Frenchman exhibits a letter, which he assures him 
contains positive intelligence that 10,000 of his 
countrymen are landed in England in support of 
liberty and independence. The joy with which his 
friend receives these glorious tidings, causes him to 
forget the wounds upon his head, which he has un¬ 
luckily received by a too free and premature decla¬ 
ration of his principles. There is a fine contrast in 
the smile of innocence in the child at the woman’s 
back, compared with the grim joy of a gentleman by 
it; while the hard, countenance of its mother gives a 
delicacy to the grenadier’s girl. Directly behind 
the drummer’s quondam spouse, a soldier is reclining 
against a shed, near which is posted a quack-bill of 
Dr. Rock ; and directly over him a wench at a 
wicket is archly taking a view, both of the soldier 
and of the march. Behind the drummer, under the 
sign of the Adam and Eve, are a group of figures, 
two of which are engaged in the fashionable art of 
bruising; their equal dexterity is shown by sewed up 
peepers on one side, and a pate well sconced on the 
other. And here the painter has shown his impar¬ 
tiality to the merit of our noble youths (who, their 
minds being inflamed with a love of glory, appear, 
not only encouragers of this truly laudable science, 
but many of them are also great proficients in the 
art itself), by introducing a youth of quality, whose 
face is expressive of those boisterous passions neces¬ 
sary to form a hero of this kind; and who, entering 
deep into the scene, endeavours to inspire the com¬ 
batants with a noble contempt of bruises and broken 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


65 


bones. An old woman, moved by a foolish compas¬ 
sion, endeavours to force through the crowd, and 
part the fray, in which design she is stopped by a 
fellow who prefers fun and mischief to humanity. 
Above their heads appears Jackey James , a cobbler, 
a little man of meagre frame, but full of spirits, who 
enjoys the combat, and with fists clenched, in imagi¬ 
nation deals blow for blow with the heroes. This 
figure is finely contrasted by a heavy, sluggish 
fellow just behind. The painter, with a stroke 
of humour peculiar to himself, has exhibited a 
figure shrinking under the load of a heavy box 
upon his back, who, preferring curiosity to ease, is 
a spectator, and waits, in this uneasy state, the 
issue of the combat. Upon a board next the sign, 
where roots, flowers, &c. were said to be sold, the 
painter has humourously altered the words Totten¬ 
ham Court Nursery , alluding to a bruising booth 
then in that place, and the group of figures un¬ 
derneath. 

“ Passing through the turnpike, appears a carriage 
laden with the implements of war, as drums, hal¬ 
berds, tent-poles, and hoop-petticoats. Upon the 
carriage are two old women-campaigners, funking 
their pipes, and holding a conversation, as usual, in 
fire and smoke. The grotesque figures afford a fine 
contrast to a delicate woman upon the same carriage, 
who is suckling a child. This excellent figure evi¬ 
dently proves, that the painter is as capable of suc¬ 
ceeding in the graceful style as in the humourous. 
A little boy lies at the feet of this figure; and the 

K 


6G 


MEMORANDA, 


painter, to show him of martial breed, has placed a 
small trumpet in his mouth. 

“ The serious group of the principal figures in the 
centre is finely relieved by a scene of humour on the 
left. Here an officer has seized a milk wench, and 
is rudely kissing her. While the officer’s ruffles 
suffer in this action, the girl pays her price, by an 
arch soldier, who, in her absence of attention to her 
pails, is filling his hat with milk, and, by his waggish 
eye, seems also to partake in the kissing scene. A 
chimney-sweeper’s boy, with glee, puts in a request 
to the soldier, to supply him with a cap full when 
his own turn is served; while another soldier points 
out the fun to a fellow selling pies, who, with an 
inimitable face of simple joy, neglects the care of 
his goods, which the soldier dexterously removes 
with his other hand. In the figure of the pieman 
the pencil has exceeded all power of description. 
The old soldier, divested of one spatterdash, and 
near losing the other, is knocked down by all-potent 
gin : upon calling for t'other cogue , his waggish com¬ 
rade, supporting him with one hand, endeavours to 
pour water into his mouth with the other, which the 
experienced old one rejects with disdain, puts up 
his hand to his wife, who bears the arms and gin- 
bottle, and who, well acquainted with his taste, 
is filling a quartern. Here the painter exhibits 
a sermon upon the excessive use of spirituous liquors, 
and the destructive consequences attending it; for 
the soldier is not only rendered incapable of his 
duty, but (what is shocking to behold) a child, with 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


67 


an emaciated countenance, extends its little arms 
with great earnestness, and wishes for that liquor of 
which it seems well acquainted with the taste. And 
here, not to dwell wholly upon the beauties of this 
painting, I must mention an absurdity discovered by 
a professed connoisseur in painting. ‘ Can there,’ 
says he, ‘ be a greater absurdity than the introducing 
a couple of chickens so near a crowd ? And not 
only so ; but see!—their direction is to go to objects 
it is natural for them to shun. Is this knowledge of 
nature? Absurd to the last degree!’ And here, 
with an air of triumph, ended our judicious critic. 
But how great was his surprise, when it was disco¬ 
vered to him, that the said chickens were in pursuit 
of the hen which had made her escape into the 
pocket of a soldier! 

“ Next the sign-post is an honest tar throwing up 
his hat, crying, ‘ God bless King George! ’ Before 
him is an image of drunken loyalty, who, with his 
shirt out of his breeches, and bayonet in his hand, 
vows destruction on the heads of the rebels. A fine 
figure of a speaking old woman, with a basket upon 
her head, will upon view tell you what she sells. A 
humane soldier, perceiving a fellow hard loaded with 
a barrel of gin upon his back, and stopped by the 
crowd, with a gimblet bores a hole in the head of 
the cask, and is kindly easing him of a part of his 
burthen. Near him is the figure of a fine gentleman 
in the army. As I suppose the painter designed 
him without character, I shall therefore only observe, 
that he is a very pretty fellow; and happily the 


68 


MEMORANDA, 


contemplation of his own dear person guards him 
from the attempts of the wicked woman on his right 
hand. Upon the right of this petit-maitre, a licentious 
soldier is rude with a girl, who screams and wreaks 
her little vengeance upon his face, whilst his comrade 
is removing off some linen that hangs in his way. 

“ You will pardon the invention of a new term— 
I shall include the whole King’s Head in the word 
Cattery , the principal figure of which is the famous 
Mother Douglas , who, with pious eyes cast up to 
heaven, prays for the army’s success, and the safe 
return of many of her babes of grace. An officer 
offers a letter to one of this lady’s children, who 
rejects it; possibly not liking the cause her spark is 
engaged in, or, what is more probable, his not hav¬ 
ing paid for her last favour. Above her, a charitable 
girl is throwing a shilling to a cripple, while another 
kindly administers a cordial to her companion, as a 
sure relief against reflection. The rest of the windows 
are full of the like cattle ; and upon the house-top ap¬ 
pear three cats, just emblems of the creatures below, 
but more harmless in their amorous encounter.” 

King George the Second was told that Hogarth 
had painted this picture, and wished to have the 
honour of dedicating to his Majesty the print en¬ 
graved from it; and a proof-print was accordingly 
presented for his approbation. The king probably 
expected to see an allegorical representation of an 
army of heroes, devoting their lives to the service of 
their country and their sovereign; we may, therefore, 
readily conceive his disappointment on viewing their 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


69 


delineation. ‘ Does the fellow mean to laugh at my 
guards ? ’ exclaimed the indignant monarch to a 
nobleman in waiting. ‘ The picture, please your 
Majesty, must be considered as a burlesque.’ 
‘What! a painter burlesque a soldier ? he deserves 
to be picketed for his insolence.’ The print was 
returned to the artist, who, completely mortified at 
such a reception of what he properly considered to 
be his greatest work, immediately altered the in¬ 
scription, inserting, instead of the King of England, 
“ the King of Prusia (so spelt in the earliest impres¬ 
sions"), an encourager of the Arts.” 


The following is another description of this Paint¬ 
ing by Bonnell Thornton :— 

“ The scene is laid before the Adam and Eve, in 
Tottenham Court Road. 

“ A handsome young grenadier has been denomi¬ 
nated the principal figure, but may, with more pro¬ 
priety, be called the principal figure of the principal 
group. His countenance exhibits a strong contest 
between affection and duty ; for the manner in which 
his Irish helpmate clings to his arm, and, at the same 
time, with threatening aspect lifts up her right hand, 
grasping the Remembrancer , proves to a moral cer¬ 
tainty, that to her he has made a matrimonial vow; 
while the tender, entreating distress of the poor girl 
at his right hand, seems to intimate, that though she 
possesses his heart, she can make no claim except to 
his gratitude and affection, both of which her pre¬ 
sent situation seems to demand. 



70 


MEMORANDA, 


“ Her face forms a strong contrast to that of the 
fury, who is on the other side; for while one is 
marked with grief and tender regret, the other has 
all the savage ferocity of an unchained tiger: she is 
an accomplished masculine tramp, perfectly qua¬ 
lified to follow a regiment, and would be as ready 
to plunder those that are slaughtered, as to scold 
those who escape: being by no means of the class 
described by Doctor Johnson, when speaking of 
superfluous epithets, he says, ‘ they are like the 
valets and washerwomen that follow an army, who 
add to the number without increasing the force/ 
The papers, of which these two claimants are the 
vendors, determine their principles. The mild- 
tempered, soft-featured gentlewoman, with a cross 
upon a cloak, is evidently a hawker of the Jacobites' 
Journal, Remembrancer, and London Evening Post, 
papers remarkable for their inflammatory tendency, 
while a portrait of the gallant Duke of Cumberland, 
and the now popular ballad of God save the King, 
hang upon the basket of her rival. 

“ An old woman immediately behind, with a pipe 
in her mouth, and a child on her back, appears to 
have grown rather ancient in the service; but not¬ 
withstanding her load and her poverty, puffs away 
care, and carries a cheerful countenance. 

“ Near the child’s head a meagre Frenchman is 
whispering an old fellow, who is called an Indepen¬ 
dent ; but as in the original painting, part of a plaid 
appears under his great coat, the artist most probably 
intended him for an old highlander in disguise. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


71 


A drummer, sick of the remonstrances of his 
wife and child, each of whom make a forcible seizure 
of his person, actuated by a spirit similar to that of 
oui third Richard, beats a thundering tattoo upon 
his own warlike instrument; and aided by the ear - 
piercing fife at his right hand, drowns the noise of 
the tell-tale woman , who thus endeavours to check 
his ardour and impede his march. 

“ A war-worn soldier, contemplating a quack 
doctor’s bill, and a woman peeping out of a pent¬ 
house above, end the group at the left corner. 

“ Under a sign of the Adam and Eve, a crowd are 
gathered round two combatants, who appear to be 
adepts in the noble science of boxing. 

“ * Amid the circle now each champion stands, 

And poises high in air his iron hands; 

Hurling defiance ; now they fiercely close— 

Their crackling jaws re-echo to the blows.* 

“ A man who, from his dress, seems to be of 
a rank superior to the crowd, inflamed with a love of 
glory, enters with great spirit into the business now 
going on, and tries to inspire the combatants with a 
noble contempt of bruises and broken bones. This 
is said to be a portrait of Lord Albemarle Bertie, 
who is again exhibited in the cock-pit. The scene 
being laid in the back-ground, the figures are dimi¬ 
nutive, but every countenance is marked with in¬ 
terest; and no one more than a little fellow, of 
meagre frame, but undaunted spirit, who, with 
clenched fists and agitated face, deals blow for blow 


72 


MEMORANDA, 


with the combatants. Somerville, in his ‘ Rural 
Games,’ has well described the passions which agi¬ 
tate the audience, in a similar scene at a country 
wake:— 

“ * Each swain his wish, each trembling nymph conceals 
Her secret dread; while every panting breast 
Alternate fears and hopes depress or raise : 

Thus, long in dubious scale the contest hung/ &c. 

“ With a humour peculiar to himself, the painter 
has exhibited a figure shrinking under the weight of 
a heavy burden, who preferring the gratification of 
curiosity to rest, is a spectator, and in this uneasy 
state waits the issue of the combat. 

“ Upon the sign-board of the Adam and Eve is 
inserted, Tottenham Court Nursery; allusive to a 
booth for bruising in the place, as well as a nursery 
for plants, and the group of figures beneath. 

“ A carriage laden with camp equipage, consisting 
of drums, halberds, tent-poles, and hoop-petticoats, 
is passing through the turnpike-gate. Upon this 
two old female campaigners are puffing their pipes, 
and holding a conversation in fire and smoke. These 
grotesque personages are well contrasted by an ele¬ 
gant and singularly delicate figure upon the same 
carriage, suckling her child; which, it has been 
said, proves that the painter is as successful in pour- 
traying the graceful as the humourous. This very 
beautiful figure is, however, also a direct copy from 
Guido’s Madonna. To shew that a little boy at her 
feet is of an heroic stock, the artist has represented 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


73 


him blowing a small trumpet. The serjeant on the 
ground beneath, seems exerting the authority with 
which his post vests him, in calling his men to order ; 
he has a true roast beef countenance, and is haughty 
enough for a general. The foreground in the centre 
is occupied by a group of figures, which tell their 
own story in a manner that, perhaps, no other artist 
of any age could have equalled. While an officer is 
kissing a milk-maid, an arch soldier, taking advan¬ 
tage of her neglected pails, fills his hat with milk : 
this is observed by a little chimney-sweeper, who, 
with a grin upon his face, entreats that he may have 
a share in the plunder, and fills his cap. Another 
soldier, pointing out the jest to a fellow who is 
selling pies, the pastry-cook, gratified by the mis¬ 
chief, forgets the luscious cakes in the tray on his 
head, and the military mercury seems likely to convey 
them all to his own pocket. The faces of this group 
are, in a most singular degree, descriptive of their 
situations, and consonant to their mischievous em¬ 
ployments. 

“ An old soldier, divested of one spatterdash, near 
losing the other, and felled to the ground by all- 
potent gin, is now calling for more ; his uncivil 
comrade, supporting him with one hand, endeavours 
to pour water into his mouth with the other: this 
the veteran toper rejects with disdain, and lifts up a 
hand to his wife, who is the bearer of the arms and 
the bottle, and being well acquainted with his taste, 
fills another quartern. 

“ A child, with emaciated face, extends its little 

L 


74 


MEMORANDA 


arms, and wishes for a taste of that poisonous potion 
it is probably accustomed to swallow. And here, not 
to dwell wholly upon the beauties of this picture, I 
must mention an error discovered by a professed con¬ 
noisseur in painting. ‘ Can there,’ says this excellent 
judge, ‘be a greater absurdity than introducing a 
couple of chickens so near such a crowd : and not 
only so ; but see!—their direction is to objects it 
is natural for them to shun. Is this knowledge 
of nature ? Absurd to the last degree ! ’ And here, 
with an air of triumph, ended our judicious critic. 
How great was his surprise, when it was pointed 
out, that the said chickens were in pursuit of the 
hen, which appears to have a resting-place in a 
soldier’s pocket. 

“ An honest tar, throwing up his hat, is crying 
God save our noble King—God save the King : imme¬ 
diately before him, an image of drunken loyalty 
vows de — de—destruction on the heads of the rebels. 

“ A humane soldier, perceiving a fellow heavily 
laden with a barrel of gin, and stopped by the crowd, 
bores a hole in the head of his cask, and kindly 
draws off a part of his burthen. Near him is a 
figure of what may, in the army, be called a fine 
fellow. As I suppose the painter designed him 
without character, I shall only observe, that he is a 
very pretty gentleman; and happily, the contem¬ 
plation of his own dear person guards him from the 
attempts of the wicked woman on his right hand. 

“ The invention of a new term must be pardoned ; 
I shall include the whole King's Head in the word 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


75 


cattery. The principal figure is a noted fat Covent 
Garden lady, who, with pious eyes cast up into hea¬ 
ven, prays for the army’s success, and the safe return 
of many of her babes of grace. An officer, having 
placed a letter on the end of his pike, presents it to 
one of the beauties in the first floor; but the fair 
enamorata , evidently disgusted at the recollection of 
some part of his former conduct, flutters her fan, 
and rejects it with disdain. Above her, a charitable 
girl, of an inferior order, is throwing a piece of coin 
to a cripple, while another kindly administers a glass 
of comfort to her companion, as a sure relief against 
reflection. The rest of the windows are crowded 
with similar characters ; and upon the house-top, 
is a cat coterie , a fair emblem of the company in the 
apartments beneath. 

“ That so admirable a representation of the man¬ 
ners of England should be dedicated to the King of 
Prussia, is one of those odd circumstances which 
must surprise a man who is not acquainted with the 
history of the plate. Before publication, it was in¬ 
scribed to George the Second, and the picture taken 
to St. James’s, in the hope of royal approbation. 
George the Second was an honest man , and a soldier , 
but not a judge of either a work of humour or a work 
of art. The corporal or serjeant he considered as 
employed in a way which dignified their nature, and 
gave them a title to the name and rank of gentlemen. 
The painter or engraver, however exquisite their 
skill, or however elevated their conceptions, were, 
on the king’s scale, mere mechanics. 


MEMORANDA, 


7 () 

“ When told that Hogarth had painted a picture of 
the guards on their march to Finchley , and meant to 
dedicate a print engraved from it to the King of 
Great Britain, his Majesty probably expected to see 
an allegorical representation of an army of heroes, 
devoting their lives to the service of their country, 
and their sovereign habited like the mailed Mars , 
seated upon a cloud, where he might, 


-with a commanding voice, 

Cry havock, and let slip the dogs of war.’ 


“ If such was his expectation, we may readily 
conceive his disappointment on viewing this delinea¬ 
tion. His first question was addressed to a nobleman 
in waiting—‘ Pray, who is this Hogarth V ‘ A painter, 
my liege/ * I hate bainting and boetry too! Nei¬ 
ther the one nor the other ever did any good ! Does 
the fellow mean to laugh at my guards?’ ‘The 
picture, an’ please your Majesty, must undoubtedly 
be considered as a burlesque.’ ‘What! a bainter 
burlesque a soldier ? He deserves to be picketed 
for his insolence ! Take his trumpery out of my 
sight.’ 

“ The print was returned to the artist, who, com¬ 
pletely mortified at such a reception of what he 
very properly considered as his first work, imme¬ 
diately altered the inscription, inserting, instead of 
the King of England, the King of Prusia, an 
encourager of the arts and sciaices ! ” 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


77 


A LARGE SEA-PIECE, 

Representing Ships employed in the British Navy , in 
various positions . 

By BROOKING. 

This painter had been in some department in the 
dock-yard at Deptford, but practised as a ship- 
painter, in which he excelled all his countrymen, 
nor have any since Vandervelde equalled his produc¬ 
tions in that department of painting; but his merit 
being scarcely known before his death, prevented 
him from acquiring the honour and profit which, by 
his abilities, he had a just right to expect. He died 
of a consumption, at his lodging in Castle Street, 
Leicester Square, in the spring of the year 1759, 
under forty years of age. 

The following anecdote is given upon the autho¬ 
rity of the late Mr. D. Sertes, to whom he was well 
known:— 

“ Many of the artists of that time worked for the 
shops, and Brooking, like the rest, painted much for 
a person who lived in Castle Street, Leicester Square, 
who coloured prints, and dealt in pictures, which he 
exposed at his shop-window. A gentleman,* who 
sometimes passed the shop, being struck with the 
merits of some sea-pieces, which were by the hand 
of this artist, desired to know his name; but his 
enquiries were not answered agreeably to his wishes : 


Mr. Taylor White, then Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital. 



78 


MEMORANDA, 


he was only told, that if he pleased, they could pro¬ 
cure any that he might require from the same 
painter. Brooking was accustomed to write his 
name upon his pictures, which mark was as con¬ 
stantly obliterated by the shop-keeper before he 
placed them in his window: it however happened 
that the artist carried home a piece, on which his 
name was inscribed, while the master was not at 
home, and the wife, who received it, placed it in the 
window without effacing the signature. Luckily, 
the gentleman passed by before this picture was 
removed, and discovered the name of the painter 
whose works he so justly admired. He immediately 
advertised for the artist to meet him at a certain 
wholesale linen-draper’s in the city. To this invita¬ 
tion Brooking at first paid no regard ; but seeing it 
repeated, with assurances of benefit to the person to 
whom it was addressed, he prudently attended, and 
had an interview with the gentleman, who, from that 
time, became his friend and patron. Unfortunately, 
the artist did not live long enough to gratify the 
wishes of his benefactor, or to receive any very great 
benefit from his patronage.” 


A LANDSCAPE. 

By GEORGE LAMBERT. 

Lambert was, for many years, principal scene 
painter to the theatre at Covent Garden. Being a 
person of great respectability in character and pro- 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


79 


fession, he was often visited, while at work in the 
theatre, by persons of the first consideration, both in 
rank and talents. As it frequently happened that 
he was too much hurried to leave his engagements 
for his regular dinner, he contented himself with 
a beef steak, broiled upon the fire in the painting- 
room. In this hasty meal he was sometimes joined 
by his visitors, who were pleased to participate in 
the humble repast of the artist. The flavour of the 
dish, and the conviviality of the accidental meeting, 
inspired the party with a resolution to establish a 
club, which was accordingly done, under the title of 
44 The Beef Steak Club;” and the party assembled 
in the painting-room. The members were after¬ 
wards accommodated with a room in the play-house, 
where the meetings were held for many years ; but 
after the theatre was last rebuilt, the place of assem¬ 
bly was changed to the Shakspeare Tavern. 

Another circumstance in this gentleman’s life is 
better worth recording, as being more intimately 
acquainted with the arts. When the artists had 
formed themselves into a regular society, and ob¬ 
tained a charter of incorporation, Lambert was nomi¬ 
nated the president, being the first person who was 
appointed to that honourable station ; but this dis¬ 
tinction was of very short duration, for he did not 
survive the signature of the charter above four days. 
He died 30th January, 1765. 



80 


MEMORANDA, 


ELIJAH RAISING THE SON OF THE WIDOW OF 
ZAREPHATH. 

“ And he stretched himself upon the child three times, 
and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, 
I pray thee let this child’s soul come into him again . 

And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the 
soul of the child came into him again, and he revived .” 

By LANFRANCO. 

This picture was presented by Mr. Langford, 
a well-known fashionable auctioneer and a zea¬ 
lous friend of the charity whose name appears 
with those of the artists dining at the Hospital in 
1757. 


PORTRAIT OF HANDEL. 

By SIR GODFREY KNELLER. 

Sir Godfrey Kneller was born at Lubec about the 
year 1648. He was at first designed for a military 
life, and was sent to Leyden, where he applied him¬ 
self to mathematics and fortification, but the pre¬ 
dominance of nature determining him to painting, 
his father acquiesced, and sent him to Amsterdam, 
where he studied under Bol, and had some instruc¬ 
tion from Rembrandt. After this he came to Eng¬ 
land, and obtained great popularity in his profession 
at Court and otherwise. 

He painted Dryden in his own hair, in plain dra¬ 
pery, holding a laurel, and made him a present of 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


81 


the work. The poet repaid this by an epistle con¬ 
taining encomiums such N as few painters deserve:— 

“ Such are thy pictures, Kneller ! such thy skill, 

That nature seems obedient to thy will; 

Comes out and meets thy pencil in the draught, 

Lives there, and wants but words to speak the thought.” 

To the incense of Dryden was added that of Pope, 
Addison, Prior, Tickell, and Steele. No wonder 
the artist was vain. But the vanity of Kneller was 
redeemed by his naivetS , and rendered pleasant by 
his wit. “ Dost thou think, man,” said he to his 
tailor, who proposed his son for a pupil, “ dost thou 
think, man, I can make thy son a painter? No! 
God Almighty only makes painters.” His wit, 
however, was that of one who had caught the spirit 
of Charles the Second’s wicked court. He once 
overheard a low fellow cursing himself. “ God 
damn you, indeed!” exclaimed the artist, in won¬ 
der; “God may damn the Duke of Marlborough, 
and perhaps Sir Godfrey Kneller ; but do you think 
He will take the trouble of damning such a scoun¬ 
drel as you ? ” The servants of his neighbour. Dr. 
Ratclifle, abused the liberty of a private entrance to 
the painter’s garden, and plucked his flowers. Knel¬ 
ler sent word, that he must shut the door up. “ Tell 
him,” the Doctor peevishly replied, “ that he may 
do anything with it but paint it.” “ Never mind 
what he says,” retorted Sir Godfrey, “ I can take 
anything from him—but physic.” 

Kneller was one day conversing about his art, 

M 


82 


MEMORANDA, 


when he gave the following neat reason for pre¬ 
ferring portraiture :—“ Painters of history,” said he, 
“ make the dead live, and do not begin to live them¬ 
selves till they are dead. I paint the living, and 
they make me live!” In a conversation concerning 
the legitimacy of the unfortunate son of James the 
Second, some doubts having been expressed by an 
Oxford Doctor, he exclaimed with much warmth, 
“ His father and mother have sat to me about thirty- 
six times a-piece, and I know every line and bit of 
their faces. Mein Gott! I could paint King James’s 
now by memory. I say the child is so like both, 
that there is not a feature in his face but what 
belongs either to father or to mother; this I am sure 
of, and cannot be mistaken : nay, the nails of his 
fingers are his mother’s, the queen that was. Doctor, 
you may be out in your letters, but I cannot be out 
in my lines.” 

PORTRAIT IN CRAYONS OF TAYLOR WHITE, Esq., 
(Treasurer of the Hospital from 1746 /0 \11\) 

By FRANCIS COTES, R.A. 

The father of Cotes was an apothecary of great 
respectability, residing in Cork Street, Burlington 
Gardens, and his son was the pupil of Mr. Knapton, 
but, in the sequel, much excelled his master. He 
was particularly eminent for his portraits in crayons, 
in which branch of the art he surpassed all his 
predecessors, though, it must be confessed he 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


83 


owed something of his excellence to the study of 
the portraits of Rosalba. v He also painted with con¬ 
siderable ability in oil colours; and, if Hogarth’s 
opinion could be considered as oracular, excelled 
Reynolds as a portrait-painter. But though his 
portraits in oil were by no means so masterly as 
those of his rival, yet they were very pleasing and 
well finished, coloured with great spirit, and, by the 
aid of Mr. Tom’s draperies, were deservedly ranked 
with the best portraits of the time. 

Cotes was in very excellent practice as a painter 
in oil; but his chief excellence, as before observed, 
was in crayons, which were greatly improved under 
his hands, both in their preparation and application. 
Walpole has given a list of some of his principal 
portraits in crayons, to which may be added, the 
whole-length of Queen Charlotte with the Princess 
Royal in her lap, which he painted in oil, about the 
year 1767. He was very early in life afflicted with 
the stone, and, before he attained the age of forty- 
five, he fell a victim to that disease. He died at his 
house in Cavendish Square, July 20th, 1770, and 
was buried at Richmond, in Surrey. 



84 


MEMORANDA, 


PORTRAIT IN CRAYONS OF GEORGE WHATLEY, Esq., 
(Treasurer of the Hospital from 1779 to 179J ) 

By A PERSON UNKNOWN. 


PORTRAIT OF CHARLES POTT, Esq. 

The pi'esent Treasurer , whom God preserve ! 

This Portrait was painted by the late eminent artist, 

THOMAS PHILLIPS, Esq., R.A. 

Its origin will be better explained by the follow¬ 
ing extract from the Minutes of the Court of Go¬ 
vernors of the 12th May, 1841. 

“ A Governor in his place, stated to the Court, 
that several Members of the Corporation, being 
sensible of the great services rendered to the Charity 
by the Treasurer, Charles Pott, Esq., were anxious 
to testify their individual approbation of the able and 
zealous manner in which he has performed the duties 
of his office, and had therefore entered upon a sub¬ 
scription in the hope that he would oblige them by 
sitting to an eminent artist for his portrait, with the 
view of its being placed in some suitable situation 
within the walls of the Hospital. 

“ The Chairman having communicated this desire 
to the Treasurer, obtained his acquiescence.” 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


85 


THE VESTIBULE. 

THE OFFERING OF THE WISE MEN. 

“And when they were come into the house, they saw 
the young child, with Mary , his mother, and fell down 
and worshipped him , and when they had opened their 
treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold , and 
frankincense, and myrrh” 

By ANDREW CASALI, 

Commonly called Chevalier, an Italian, said to 
have been a native of Civita Vecchia. At what time 
he came to England is not ascertained, but he was 
in London before the year 1748, for he was em¬ 
ployed to paint the transparencies which formed a 
part of the decorations of the fireworks exhibited in 
the Green Park, St. James’s, on the celebration of the 
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which pictures were for 
many years to be seen in the Ordnance Office at the 
Tower. He was much employed by the elder Mr. 
Beckford, at Fonthill, where he painted some ceil¬ 
ings. He was one of the first candidates for the 
premium offered by the Society of Arts, Manufac¬ 
tures, and Commerce, for the best historical picture, 
the subject to be taken from the English history ; 
and in the year 1760, he obtained the second pre¬ 
mium, fifty guineas; in 1761 and again in 1762, he 
obtained the first premium, one hundred guineas ; 
and in 1766, for an historical picture in chiaro 
scuro, the first premium, fifty guineas. At the time 
the Foundling Hospital was completed, he painted 
the above picture for the altar of the Chapel, which 
he presented to the Charity. This picture remained 


86 


MEMORANDA, 


several years in its primitive situation, but was re¬ 
moved to make way for the picture of West, which 
now occupies the place. 

Of the hand of Casali, there are also two figures 
of St. Peter and St. Paul, in chiaro scuro , at the 
altar of St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster. These 
figures were painted about the year 1758. This 
artist’s productions are said to be carefully painted, 
clean in their execution, showy, but tawdry in the 
colouring. 

ACTION OFF THE COAST OF FRANCE. 

May 13th, 1779. 

By LTJNY. 

The particulars of this Picture are as follows, viz. 

“Sir James Wallace, Commander of H. M. Ship 
Experiment , with the Pallas, Unicorn , Fortunes, and 
Cabot, Brigs, attacking the Dance, Valeur, Reduce, 
three French Frigates, and a Cutter, in Concale Bay . 
The Dance he brought off. The other three being 
aground, he burnt, amidst a smart fire from a battery 
of six twelve-pounders, and several cannon from the 
shore. The battery he silenced in half an hour.” 

PORTRAIT OF LORD CHIEF JUSTICE WILMOT, 

By DANCE. 

The members of the family to which this eminent 
judge belonged were, from an early period, liberal 
supporters of the Hospital, and it is to a collateral 
branch, namely, — The Right Honourable Lord 
Saye and Sele, that the Governors are indebted 
for this picture. 




foundling hospital. 


87 


It is worthy of remark that the Foundling Hospital 
has been supported, from time to time, by some of 
the most distinguished judges who have adorned the 
Bench. 


BUST OF HANDEL, 

By LOUIS FRANCIS ROUBILIAC. 

Roubiliac, who was born at Lyons, in France, 
became a formidable rival to Rysbrack. He had 
little business, till Sir Edward Walpole* recom. 
mended him for the execution of all the busts 
at Trinity College, Dublin; and, by the same 
patron’s interest, he was employed on the mo¬ 
nument of the Duke of Argyle, in Westminster 
Abbey. His statue of Handel, in the gardens at 
Vauxhall, fixed Roubiliac’s fame. Two of his prin¬ 
cipal works are the monuments of the late Duke and 
Duchess of Montagu, in Northamptonshire. His 
statue of George the First, in the Senate House at 
Cambridge, is said to be well executed ; and so is 
that of their then Chancellor, Charles, Duke of So¬ 
merset. His statue of Sir Isaac Newton, in the chapel 
of Trinity College, is considered the best of the 
three. This able artist had a turn to poetry, and 


* Roubiliac is said to have gained the Patronage of Sir Edward Walpole 
in this singular manner. Very soon after he arrived in England, and was 
then working as journeyman to Carter, a maker of monuments, having 
spent an evening at Vauxhall, on his return he picked up a pocket-book, 
which he found to enclose several Bank Notes of value. He immediately 
advertised the circumstance—and a gentleman of fashion, Sir Edwarl Wal¬ 
pole, claimed the pocket-book. Justly appreciating and remunerating the 
integrity of the poor young man, and the specimens of his skill and talent 
which he exhibited, he promised to patronize him through life, and he 
faithfully performed this promise. 




88 


MEMORANDA, 


wrote satires in French verse. He died January 
11th, 1762, and was buried in the parish of St. Mar¬ 
tin’s, where he lived. 

The above bust was taken by the artist, from sit¬ 
tings to him by Handel, and is the original work from 
which the celebrated statue in Vauxhall Gardens and 
that in Westminster Abbey were made. At the sale of 
Mr. Barrett, the proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens, 
the bust was purchased by Mr. Bartleman, and 
was, for many years, esteemed by him as his greatest 
treasure. Upon his death, it passed, by sale, into 
the hands of the trade; and lastly, upon the recom¬ 
mendation of Mr. William Belines, sculptor, was 
purchased and presented to the Hospital by Sir 
Frederick Pollock, one of the Vice-Presidents, now 
Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. 


There is also in the Vestibule a model of the late 
Sir William Curtis, Bart, by Sievier, after a por¬ 
trait by Sir Thomas Lawrence. This is considered 
an excellent likeness of the worthy baronet, whose 
son, the present Sir William Curtis, is one of the 
Vice-Presidents of the Hospital, and has been for 
more than thirty years its zealous friend and able 
supporter. 

Besides this model, there are two busts, namely, 
one (by Behnes) of the late Henry Earle, Esq., the 
eminent Surgeon, who gratuitously gave his profes¬ 
sional services to the Children of the Hospital for 
many years. 

The other of the present Morning Preacher, by 
S. J. B. Haydon. 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


89 


DINING HALLS. 


PORTRAIT OF GEORGE THE SECOND, 

(First Patron of the Hospital) 

By SHACKLETON. 

John Shackleton was piincipal painter to the 
Crown in the latter end of the reign of George II. 
and until his death, which happened March 16th, 
1767. 


PORTRAIT OF THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH, 


(A Vice-President of the Hospital) 

By SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 


An account of Sir Joshua Reynolds might appear 
superfluous here, but he was so zealous a friend of 
the Charity, and passed so much of his time within 
its walls, that this compilation would be incomplete 
without some notice of this most eminent and good 
man.* Sir Joshua was born at Plympton, in Devon¬ 
shire, July 16th, 1723. Iiis father, the Rev. Samuel 
Reynolds, was master of the free grammar school of 
that town. The son received his school education 
from his father. When very young he discovered a 


* So late as 1782, we still find him taking an interest in the Hospital. 
“ I bo-" (he says, in a letter to the secretary) “ my respectful complements 
maybe presented to the governors, I consider the nomination of myse o 
be one of the stewards as a great honour conferred on me, and will certainly 
attend at the Hospital on the anniversary in May next.” 

N 






90 


MEMORANDA, 


strong inclination to painting, which was confirmed 
by his reading Richardson’s Treatise on that art. 
This natural propensity was indulged and strength¬ 
ened at intervals, by copies which he made after the 
various prints he could then procure; among which 
were the frontispieces to Plutarch’s Lives, and also 
Jacob Catts’ Emblems. When he was of age to 
assume a profession, he was placed with Mr. 
Hudson, who was at that time the most fashion¬ 
able portrait-painter. This situation was wisely 
chosen by the father, as being congenial to the 
natural inclinations of the son. When he quitted 
Hudson, he returned to Devonshire, where he pursu¬ 
ed the practice of portrait-painting. He began his 
career at a very low price, by which he gained not 
only employment but improvement, and he improved 
his taste by visiting the Continent more than once. 

At his first establishment he resided in St. Mar¬ 
tin’s Lane, but soon removed to a large mansion on 
the north-side of Great Newport Street, where he 
dwelt a few years. In 1761, he removed to the 
west-side of Leicester Square, where he bought a 
good house, to which he added a very convenient 
painting-room, and an elegant gallery for the display 
of his pictures. In 1765, he exhibited a whole- 
length of Lady Sarah Bunbury, who in the picture 
is represented as sacrificing to the Graces. Thus he 
introduced into his portraits a style of gallant com¬ 
pliment which proved that, as a painter, he well 
knew how to ensure the approbation of the distin¬ 
guished fair. At this time he had attained the sum- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


91 


mit of his reputation as an artist, which he maintained 
till the close of his life, .although Cotes, and after¬ 
wards Ramsay, shared in no small degree the fashion 
of the day. 

Though he subscribed his name on the roll of the 
Charter of the Society of Artists, at their incorpora¬ 
tion, and was appointed one of the directors, yet he 
took little or no part in the business of that Institu¬ 
tion. The conduct of the refractory members of the 
Chartered Society having given rise to the Royal 
Academy, Reynolds was chosen President. Upon 
this occasion he received the honour of knighthood, 
and on the 2nd January, 17G9, took his seat for the 
first time as President, when he delivered a discourse 
to the Royal Academicians, replete with candour, 
sound sense, and the most suitable advice to those 
who had the conduct of the schools then newly es¬ 
tablished. This practice he continued, as often as 
the gold medals were bestowed upon those students 
of the Academy who had produced the best historical 
picture. Some years before, he had obtained the 
intimacy and friendship of many of the first literary 
characters of the age, and had shewn himself capable 
of employing his pen as an able critic in his profes¬ 
sion, for in the year 1759, he wrote three letters, 
which were inserted in the Idler , a periodical paper, 
supported by his intimate friend Dr. Samuel John¬ 
son. Sir Joshua died in the year 1792, in the sixty- 
ninth year of his age. 



92 


MEMORANDA, 


PORTRAIT OF THE EARL OF MACCLESFIELD, 
(A Vice-President) 

By WILSON* 

Of whom an account has already been given. 


PORTRAIT OF Dr. MEAD, 

(A very active Governor) 

By ALLAN RAMSAY. 

Mr. Ramsay was the son of Allan Ramsay, author 
of the pastoral drama, called, “ The Gentle Shep¬ 
herd,”—he was born in Edinburgh. 

As an artist, he is said to have been rather self- 
taught, but went early in life to Italy, where he re¬ 
reived some instructions from Solimene , and also from 
Imperiale , two artists of much celebrity in that 
country. After his return, he practised for some 
time in Edinburgh, but chiefly in London, and ac¬ 
quired a considerable degree of reputation in his 
profession. 

By the interest of Lord Bute, he was introduced 
to George 111. when Prince of Wales, whose por¬ 
trait he painted, both at whole-length and also in 
profile. Beside these, there are several mezzotinto 
prints, after pictures which he painted, of some of 
the principal personages among his countrymen. 
Though he did not acquire the highest degree of 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


93 


rank in his profession, yet he practised with consi¬ 
derable success for many years, and at the death of 
Mr. Shackleton, which was in March, 1767, he was 
appointed principal painter to the Crown, a situation 
which he retained till his death, though he retired 
from practise about eight years after his appoint¬ 
ment. 

Although Ramsay, as a painter, did not acquire 
that vigour of execution and brilliancy of colouring 
which distinguished the works of Sir Joshua Rey¬ 
nolds, yet his portraits possess a calm representation 
of nature, that much exceeds the mannered affec¬ 
tation of squareness which prevailed among his 
cotemporary artists; and it may be justly allowed, 
that he was among the first of those who contri¬ 
buted to improve the degenerated style of portrait¬ 
painting. That he possessed a considerable degree 
of public notice, may be presumed from the follow¬ 
ing observation of Walpole, who says, that “ Rey¬ 
nolds and Ramsay have wanted subjects, not genius;” 
but the truth is, that if the latter possessed equal 
genius with the former, he still wanted that affection 
to his art, which, added to his natural taste, were 
the constant stimuli to Sir Joshua’s exertions, and 
the cause of his great superiority above his brother 
artists. 

Dr. Mead was an early and a very zealous Gover¬ 
nor of the Hospital. He was the most eminent phy¬ 
sician of his time, and was born at Stepney, 11th 
August, 1673. In 1702 he published a work called 


94 


MEMORANDA, 




“ Mechanical Account of Poisons,” and subsequently 
other valuable treatises. He was one of the mem¬ 
bers of the Royal Society when Sir Isaac Newton 
was the president, and was physician to St. Tho¬ 
mas’s Hospital. He died at his house in Great 
Ormond Street, in 1754. 


PORTRAITS OF THEODORE JACOBSEN, Esq., 

(The Architect of the Hospital) 

AND JOHN MILNER, Esq., 

(A Governor) 

By THOMAS HUDSON. 

Hudson, who was the pupil and son-in-law of 
Richardson, enjoyed for many years the chief busi¬ 
ness of portrait-painting in the capital, after the 
favourite artists, his master and Jervas, were gone 
off the stage, though Vanloo first, and Liotard after¬ 
wards, for a few years, diverted the torrent of 
fashion from the established profession. Still the 
country gentlemen were faithful to their compatriot, 
and were content with his honest similitudes, and 
with the fair tied wigs, blue velvet coats, and white 
satin waistcoats, which he bestowed liberally on his 
customers. The better taste introducing Sir Joshua 
Reynolds (who was his pupil for two years), put 
an end to Hudson’s reign, who had the good sense to 
resign the throne soon after finishing his capital 



/ 



I 





VV-y 




































































































































FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


95 


work—the Family Piece of Charles, Duke of Marl¬ 
borough. 

He retired to a small villa he had built at Twick¬ 
enham, on a most beautiful part of the river, and 
where he furnished the best rooms with a well- 
chosen collection of cabinet pictures and drawings 
by great masters, having purchased many of the 
latter from his father-in-law’s capital collection. 
Towards the end of his life, he was married to his 
second wife, Mrs. Fiennes, a gentlewoman with a 
good fortune, to whom he bequeathed his villa, and 
died January 26th, 1779, aged seventy-eight. 


PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN CORAM, 

(The Founder) 

By HOGARTH. 

Captain Coram was born at Lyme Regis, in Dor¬ 
setshire, in the year 1668. He was a descendant of 
the Corhams, of Devonshire; and Kinterbury, in that 
county, was, for several generations, the property 
and residence of the family.* Of his baptism, there 
does not appear to be any record at Lyme Regis ; 
and all that can be found in the registers relating to 
the family is the following: - 

“ William, son of John Coram, Captain, was bap¬ 
tized at Lyme, April 29th, 1671. t 

* Vide Risdon’s Chorographical Description of the County of Devon, 
f For this information the writer is indebted to Dr. Hodges, the present 
Vicar of Lyme Regis. 





9G 


MEMORANDA, 


There seems to be no doubt, therefore, that this 
“ William” was a younger brother of “ Thomas,” 
the subject of this memoir, and consequently, that 
the latter, in devoting himself to the sea service, 
followed the occupation of his father. At Lyme 
Regis, which is a sea-port, there was carried on, 
at the period in question, a considerable coasting 
and Newfoundland trade; and hence we may ven¬ 
ture to account for the first direction of his course 
in maritime concerns. 

Of his early years there is no biographical notice 
extant; but it appears probable, that the ardent tem¬ 
perament which he exhibited through life, was too 
strong for the restraints of home and domestic ties, 
and that this, and his love of enterprise, caused him 
to be, even at the outset of his career, an independent 
member of his father’s family.* 

About the year 1694, (he being then twenty-six 
years old), we find him at Taunton,| Massachusetts, 


* Mrs. Thomasine Shepheard, now residing at Plymouth, who is grand¬ 
niece of the Founder of the Hospital, has in her possession several relics, 
including a silver cup, which he presented, in 1727, to his god-son, “ Tho¬ 
mas Corham.” 

f This information is furnished by the Rev. N. T. Bent, of Massachusetts, 
conveyed by the following letter:— 

“Taunton, Mass., Oct. 14, 1844. 

“ Dear Sir, 


“When my friend and parishioner, Mr. W. A. Crocker, 
was in London, in 1841, you were kind enough to put in his hands several 
pamphlets, containing references to that excellent man, Thomas Coram. I 
have the pleasure now to send you a few copies of a discourse, historical of 
St. Thomas’s Church, in this town. One chief object in its publication 
was, to rescue from forgetfulness the name and deeds of that eminent phi¬ 
lanthropist, little known in this country, I presume, but richly deserving 
commemoration. 


“We have become warmly attached to his memory; and, as I have inti- 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


97 


in the United States, exercising the humble trade of 
a shipwright. To this.new country he had, doubt¬ 
less, gone in the spirit of adventure ; and here he 
gave the first instance oii record of that public 
devotedness for which he was so remarkable. Whilst 
in this comparative wilderness, he perceived, with 
regret, the uncivilized condition of the inhabitants, 


mated in a note to the discourse, wish to place here some enduring memo¬ 
rial of the man. We have supposed that the object might enlist the 
sympathies of those, with you, who honour his name. Our plan is to erect 
a chapel, which shall be named for him, and bear on its walls a tablet to his 
memory—the same to be in connection with St. Thomas’s Church, and under 
the control of its vestry. For such a chapel there is need amongst us, and 
it would essentially promote, we believe, the cause of that church which 
Captain Coram loved, and which, it is becoming more and more apparent, 
is the chief hope of our country. The members of St. Thomas’s are zealous 
churchmen, and have already made the most generous efforts for the cause 
of the church in this town. Eut so few amongst them are blessed with the 
means of contributing, that it would be impossible for us to complete our 
present design within ourselves. 

“ Under these circumstances, rather than abandon an object upon which 
we have quite set our hearts, we venture to appeal to yourself; and should 
the matter strike you favourably, through you to others. I can but hope 
you will find it possible to promote this object. Could we secure, through 
yourself, a subscription of £200 or £300, we could then worthily carry out 
our plan. 

“ May I ask you to consider the matter, and if you judge best, to present 
a subscription for the object to such as you think might favour it. If, in 
this request, I have presumed too much upon your interest in the subject, 
my own must be the apology. 

“ Our desire is, to complete a subscription for the chapel at once. May I 
hope to hear from you, in reply to this, at an early day. Should further 
information be desired, it will be cheerfully given. 

“ Commending the matter to the kind regards of yourself and friends, 

“ I am, my dear Sir, 

“ Very truly, your obedient Servant, 

“N. T. Bent,” 


“ J. Brownlow, Esq., 
Foundling Hospital, London.’ 


O 




98 


MEMORANDA, 


by reason of the absence of systematic religion, as 
exercised by the Church of England, of which he 
was a member. By a deed, therefore, dated 8th De¬ 
cember, 1703, he conveyed to the governor and 
other authorities of Taunton, fifty-nine acres of land. 
The condition of the gift was this,—that whenever, 
in the progress of civilization and the increase of 
population, the people of the place should desire the 
Church of England to be established there, that 
then, on their application to the vestrymen, or their 
successors in office, the land, or a suitable part of it, 
was to be granted for that purpose, or for a school- 
house, as they might desire. This gift, the deed 
alleges, was made “ in consideration of the love and 
respect which the donor had and did bear unto the 
said church, as also for divers other good causes and 
considerations him especially at that present moving.” 
In this deed he is described as “ of Boston, in New 
England, sometimes residing in Taunton, in the 
County of Bristol, Shipwright.” At a subsequent 
period of his life he presented to the parish of Taun¬ 
ton a valuable library, part of which remains to this 
day. Some of the books appear to have been soli¬ 
cited by Coram from others. Thus, in the copy of 
Common Prayer now preserved in the church, the 
entry in the title page is as follows :—“ This Book 
of Common Prayer is given by the Right Honourable 
Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the Honourable House 
of Commons of Great Britain, one of His Majesty’s 
Most Honourable Privy Council, and Treasurer of 
His Majesty’s Navy, &c., to Thomas Coram , of Lon- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


99 


don. Gentleman , for the use of a Church lately built 
at Taunton, in New England.” Coram appears to 
have obtained the warm friendship of Mr. Speaker 
Onslow, of the evidence of which this is not the 
only instance. 

From Taunton Captain Coram removed to Boston, 
about the close of the seventeenth century, and 
engaged in commerce. He became a ship-master, 
and acquired some property in following the seas, 
especially in the then newly-discovered fisheries. 
By his intercourse with the colonies, at their dif¬ 
ferent ports, he became well acquainted with their 
wants, and deeply concerned for their welfare; and 
though in a comparatively humble station, originated 
many noble plans for their benefit. 

In 1704 he was very instrumental in planning and 
procuring an Act of Parliament, for encouraging the 
making of Tar in the Northern Colonies of British 
America, by a bounty to be paid on the importation 
thereof, whereby not only a livelihood was afforded 
to thousands of families employed in that branch 
of trade in North America, but above a million ster¬ 
ling was saved to the nation, which was heretofore 
obliged to buy all its Tar from Sweden, at a most 
exorbitant price, besides being imported in Swe¬ 
dish vessels. 

In the year 1719, he was on board the ship, 
“ Sea Flower ” on her passage to Hamburgh, when 
she was stranded off Cuxhaven and plundered by 
the inhabitants of the district of her cargo. Coram, 
in endeavouring to preserve the property on board. 


100 


MEMORANDA, 


was grossly illused by the pirates, who managed to 
overpower him and the rest of the authorities. In 
the affidavit relating to this outrage, he is described 
as “ of London, Mariner and Shipwright,” and the 
affidavit further sets forth, “That he (Coram) having 
usually sold to his Majesty in the year past and at 
other times, quantities of naval stores from America, 
for the supply of his Majesty’s navy, did about Fe¬ 
bruary last, design to visit his Majesty’s German 
Dominions to see what supplies of timber and other 
naval stores could be had from thence, fit for the 
navy royal.” By this incident in the life of Coram, 
we learn the nature of his transactions at this period, 
but it would seem that soon afterwards, having ac¬ 
cumulated as much wealth as suited his moderate 
views, he retired from the sea service and devoted 
himself for the remainder of his life to projects hav¬ 
ing for their object the public good. It was soon 
after this, that he turned his attention to the desti¬ 
tute state of the infant poor of the metropolis, and 
engaged in his laudable design of establishing an 
Hospital for Foundlings. 

Captain Coram was not a mere theorist. All his 
schemes were of a practical nature. He first made 
himself thoroughly master of his subject, and then 
set about convincing those whose assistance he 
deemed necessary for their accomplishment. The 
difficulty lie had to encounter was the want of that 
energy of character in others, which was so remark¬ 
able in himself. This retarded the progress of many 
of the projects he had set on foot for the benefit of 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


101 


mankind. The good, however, that he effected is 
sufficiently substantial to hand his name down to 
the latest posterity as the lover of his country and 
of her people. The celebrated Horace Walpole 
said of him that he was “ the honestest, the most 
disinterested, and the most knowing person about 
the plantations” he ever talked with. The Colonial 
concerns of the country certainly had his special 
care. 

It was at the solicitation of Captain Coram, that 
an Act of Parliament was obtained for taking off the 
prohibition on importing deal boards and fir timber 
from the Netherlands and Germany, on account of 
the King of Denmark having enhanced the prices of 
those commodities, by which means they imme¬ 
diately fell twenty per cent. 

In the year 1732 he was appointed one of the 
trustees, by a charter from George II. for the settle¬ 
ment of Georgia, in the colonization of which pro¬ 
vince he took a deep interest. 

His next project related to Nova Scotia, and about 
the year 1735 he addressed the following Memorial 
to George II. 

“ To the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. 

“The Memorial of Thomas Coram, Gentleman, 
most humbly showeth,— 

“That your memorialist having, through long 
experience in naval affairs, and by residing many 
years in your Majesty s plantations in America, 


102 


MEMORANDA, 


observed, with attention, several matters and things 
which he conceives might be greatly improved, for 
the honour and service of the Crown, and the in¬ 
crease of the trade, navigation, and wealth of this 
kingdom; he, therefore, most humbly begs leave to 
represent to your Majesty,— 

“ That the coasts of your Majesty’s province of 
Nova Scotia afford the best cod-fishing of any in the 
known parts of the world, and the land is well 
adapted for raising hemp, and other naval stores, 
for the better supplying this kingdom with the same : 
but the discouragements have hitherto been such as 
have deterred people from settling there, whereby 
the said province, for want of good inhabitants, is 
not so beneficial to this kingdom, nor so well secured 
to the Crown as it might be; because it cannot be 
presumed the French inhabitants, who remain there 
by virtue of the treaty, whereby Nova Scotia was 
surrendered to Great Britain, anno, 1710, being all 
papist, would be faithful to your Majesty’s interest, 
in case of a war between Great Britain and France. 

“ Your memorialist, therefore, most humbly con¬ 
ceives, that it would be highly conducive to the 
interests of this kingdom, to settle, without loss of 
time, a competent number of industrious protestant 
families in the said province, which is the northern 
frontier of your Majesty’s dominions in America, 
under a civil government to be established by your 
Majesty, conformable in all its branches, as near as 
may be to the constitution of England, which seems 
the most probable, if not the only means of people- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


103 


ing this province, which experience shows could 
not be effected under the military government that 
hath been exercised there upward of twenty-four 
years past, and of giving effectual encouragement 
to the cod fishery, that valuable branch of the 
British commerce, which hath declined very much of 
late years, in proportion as the French have advanced 
therein. 

“Your memoralist further begs leave to observe 
that the French are masters of the best salt in the 
world for curing fish, whereas the English are obliged 
to have what salt they use from foreign dominions, 
which make it highly necessary to secure a perpetual 
supply of salt in your Majesty’s dominions in Ame¬ 
rica, that we may not depend on a precarious supply 
of that commodity from the dominions of other 
princes. And your memoralist humbly conceives 
that the Island of Exuma, which is one of the 
Bahamas, would afford sufficient quantities of salt 
for all your Majesty’s subjects in North America, 
provided Cat Island, another of the Bahamas, lying 
to windward of Exuma, was well settled and put in 
such a posture as to be able to cover Exuma and 
protect the salt rakers from the depredations of the 
Spaniards of Baracoa (the settling of Cat Island 
would be otherwise vastly advantageous to the 
Crown;, and provided the unreasonable demand 
of the tenth of all salt raked there be abolished, 
for want of which encouragements, the salt ponds of 
Exuma have hitherto been useless to the public. 

« To these purposes your memoralist humbly lays 


104 


MEMORANDA, 


the annexed petition at your Majesty’s feet, and begs 
leave to add that there are several honourable and 
worthy persons ready to accept and act in the trust 
therein described, if your Majesty shall be pleased 
to grant your Royal Letters Patent for that purpose. 

“Wherefore he most humbly prays your Majesty 
to order that this memorial, together with the peti¬ 
tion hereunto annexed, and whatever your memo- 
ralist shall have occasion further to offer, concerning 
the same, may be taken into consideration, and 
that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to do 
therein as your Majesty in your great wisdom and 
goodness shall seem proper. 

“ And he will ever pray, &c., &c. 

“Thomas Coram.” 

Accompanying this memorial, was a petition from 
more than one hundred “ labouring handicraftsmen, 
whose respective trades and callings were over¬ 
stocked by great numbers of artizans and workmen 
who resort from all parts of the metropolis, whereby 
the petitioners were unable to procure sufficient to 
maintain themselves and families.” They further 
set forth “ that to avoid extreme want, and escape 
the temptations which always attend poverty, they 
were desirous of being settled securely in some of the 
plantations of America.” The petitioners then state 
the advantages of the uncultivated tracts of land in 
the province of Nova Scotia, and pray that they 
may have the grant of a free passage thither, and 
when there be protected, their persons and properties 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


105 


by a civil government as near as may be to the 
constitution of England.- 

Captain Coram’s memorial was referred to the 
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, be¬ 
fore whom he appeared on several occasions between 
the years 1735 and 1737, and both verbally and in 
writing submitted the most satisfactory and elaborate 
evidence of the propriety and expediency of his pro¬ 
posal, and the laws by which the colony should 
be maintained and governed, so as to draw the fol¬ 
lowing approval from the Lords Commissioners, 
addressed to the Privy Council, dated 22nd April, 
1737. 

“The settlement of Nova Scotia with English 
inhabitants is of very great consequence to his 
Majesty’s interest in America, and to the interest of 
this kingdom, from its situation with regard to the 
French, and from the fishery now carried on at 
Conso, and the several branches of naval stores that 
province is capable of producing, when once it shall 
be settled, as we have several times represented to 
his Majesty and to your lordships, particularly m 
our report of the 7th June, 1727 ; and therefore, we 
think it very much for his Majesty’s service, to give 
all possible encouragement to any undertaking for 
this purpose, especially when attended with so great 
an appearance and probability of success as that of 
Mr. Coram’s, now under our consideration.” 

Although the object which Captain Coram had in 
this matter was postponed for several years, owing 
to political changes and hindrances, yet, before he 
P 


106 


MEMORANDA, 


died, he had the satisfaction of seeing the full deve- 
lopement of his plans, in regard to this now valuable 
colony. 

What further relates to this great and good man, 
and of the different measures which were the objects 
of his laborious and useful life, cannot be communi¬ 
cated more appropriately than in the language of 
Dr. Brocklesby, his most intimate friend, who, soon 
after the death of Coram, thus delineated his cha¬ 
racter. 

“ The tribute of praise is due to every virtue—due 
in proportion to the excellence and extent of that 
virtue to which it is paid ; and consequently, public 
spirit, which is of all virtues the most conducive to 
the good of society, deserves as high returns of 
public gratitude and respect as can possibly be 
given. This is the rather incumbent on every com¬ 
munity where conspicuous instances of this kind 
appear, because it is indeed the only reward ade¬ 
quate to their merit, and the best method of propa¬ 
gating the example ; for what can so properly, or so 
potently excite public spirit, as the sense of its 
begetting public love ? The most illustrious of all 
good qualities ought certainly to be honoured with 
the noblest testimony of affection and esteem. 

“ There may, indeed, be some kind of restraint, 
some check upon our zeal during the life of the 
party, from an apprehension that praise might be 
mistaken for flattery, and that instead of promoting 
a general sense of the good man’s virtue, it might be 
the means of exposing him to envy. But when a 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


107 


man is dead, praise is less suspected ; and those who 
would have listened very unwillingly to his com¬ 
mendations when living, will be the first to applaud 
and support it when he is no more. Whatever pre¬ 
judices he had to combat, whatever opposition was 
formed to his designs, while he was busy in the 
pursuit, the man of public spirit is no sooner at rest 
from his labours and his life (which always end 
together), than the sentiments of the public are 
united on his behalf, and all attend with pleasure 
to the recital of those actions of the dead, which the 
living will find difficult to imitate. 

“ The late Captain Thomas Coram, now gone to 
his grave in a good old age, with the universal regret 
of the knowing and upright part of mankind, was a 
person whose merit and virtues were so extraor¬ 
dinary, exerted with such vigour, and with so great 
constancy for the benefit of society, that an attempt 
to raise some little monument to his memory, cannot 
fail of being well received by the public, whose 
servant he was for upwards of forty years before his 
death, without any other wages than the honest 
satisfaction he felt in doing good and discharging 
his duty; and will, at the same time, furnish a 
pleasing employment to one who loved him from 
the contemplation of his singular character, and for 
that rugged integrity which distinguished him ex¬ 
ceedingly in the present age, and which would have 
done him no small honour even in better times. 
An abler hand might have easily undertaken the 
task, but none could perform it with a better will. 


108 


MEMORANDA, 


“ He was born about the year 16G8, bred in the 
sea-service, and spent the first part of his life in the 
station of master of a vessel trading to our colonies, 
by which he gained a perfect acquaintance with that 
commerce which is of so great consequence, and 
produces so great profit to this nation. He acquired 
very early, a sincere and warm attachment to the 
true interests of his country—had a real concern for 
them, and did not affect public spirit to cover any 
private views. His experience was his principal 
guide, and from thence he learned to consider rational 
liberty, active industry, and unblemished probity, 
as the only principles upon which national pros¬ 
perity could be built; and to these, therefore, he 
gave his loudest voice and his most earnest endea¬ 
vours. Free from all hypocrisy, he spoke what he 
thought with vehemence. But his zeal did not rest 
in words; it was no less visible in his actions : so 
that not contented with wishing well to his country, 
and serving it faithfully in his private and particular 
capacity, he ventured to step out of the common 
road, and exerted himself in favour of many projects, 
from no other motive than their being of general 
utility. 

“It may create some wonder, that without any 
other qualifications than these, Captain Coram should 
undertake to form schemes considerable for their 
extent, and very important in their intentions ; and 
still more wonderful that he should procure, from 
men of great abilities and long acquaintance with 
business, an approbation of these schemes, and carry 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 109 

them at length into execution, by dint of unwearied 
application, and a perseverance that nothing could 
delay, disturb, or destroy. But this he certainly 
did, and that without any act but that of disclaiming 
it—without any address beyond that of showing 
the advantages which the public would reap from 
his projects—he actually brought them, sooner or 
later, to bear, is a position so well supported by 
facts, that, though it is a little improbable, it must 
be believed. 

“ But if he wanted certain accomplishments—if 
he was deficient in some things which are thought 
necessary to form a successful solicitor, he had cer¬ 
tain talents that supplied these defects. He had an 
honesty that, though it was a little rough, carried 
such apparent marks of its being genuine, that those 
who conversed with him but a little, lost all appre¬ 
hensions of being deceived; and if this did not give 
him an easier entrance, it certainly procured him 
an earlier confidence than would have resulted from 
a more polished behaviour. His arguments were 
nervous, though not nice—founded commonly upon 
facts, and the consequences that he drew, so closely 
connected with them, as to need no further proof 
than a fair explanation. When once he made an 
impression, he took care it should not wear out; for 
he enforced it continually by the most pathetic re¬ 
monstrances. In short, his logic was plain sense, 
his eloquence the natural language of the heart. 

“When the possession of Nova Scotia was first 
recovered to the crown of Great Britain by force of 


110 


MEMORANDA, 


arms, and secured afterwards by a treaty of peace. 
Captain Coram very early saw the consequence that 
this province was of to the natural interest of this 
nation and her colonies. He was, therefore, very 
eager and very earnest to have it thoroughly settled, 
which, if once done, he very well knew, that the 
advantages arising from agriculture, fishing, and trade, 
for which, from the richness of its soil, the conve¬ 
nience of its coasts, and the multiplicity of its har¬ 
bours, it was admirably adapted, would make the 
value of it quickly known. In this, if he had not 
the good fortune he expected and deserved, he was 
not totally disappointed ; and, at the same time, 
had the pleasure to perceive, that the more his 
notions were attended to, and the closer they were 
examined, the plainer and more probable they ap¬ 
peared ; so that the utility of his scheme was ac¬ 
knowledged in a much greater degree than was, 
at that time of day, held expedient to carry it into 
execution. 

“ But as plans for the public service, well laid, 
though they sleep for a long time, seldom fail of 
waking at last, when, through a train of unlooked- 
for accidents and unexpected events, administrations 
are roused to attention, so, before his death, he had 
the satisfaction of seeing his old scheme revived, and 
this province, which had been so long neglected, 
owned and considered in that light in which he had 
long before placed it. This must certainly have 
given him great consolation, more especially when 
he perceived that it was carried on under the aus- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


Ill 


pice of a noble person nearly allied to him in senti¬ 
ment, and who had no other motive to that care and 
concern which he has shown for this rising colony 
but his affection to his country, and to whatever 
may contribute to strengthen her extensive empire, 
and secure the continuance of that prosperity which 
she derives from naval power, and settlements well 
placed and worthily directed. 

“ May such noble attempts meet with that success 
they deserve 1 May this country, so well situated, 
be thoroughly peopled and effectually cultivated! 
May protestants from every climate meet therein 
with a happy retreat from all kinds of oppression, 
and, by the help of their own industry, under the 
protection of the British government, acquire a com¬ 
fortable assistance, which they will never want 
spirit to defend! 

“ He was highly instrumental in promoting an¬ 
other good design—a design equally beneficial to 
Britain at home, and to British subjects abroad, 
which coalition of interests is a thing always to be 
wished, and may, as in this case actually it was, be 
without much difficulty accomplished. The design 
here intended was the procuring a bounty upon 
naval stores imported from the colonies—a matter 
of vast advantage to the mother country, as it freed 
her from the necessity of dependence upon foreign¬ 
ers for commodities of essential consequence to her 
strength, and even to her safety, as it prevented the 
purchasing them with ready money, which was, in 
effect, saving so much treasure, and, as it exempted 


112 


MEMORANDA, 


her from many difficulties which she had often felt, 
and from the apprehension of which she could not 
otherwise be delivered—points, one would imagine, 
of so serious a nature, as, if once proposed, to com¬ 
mand the strictest attention, and the truth of which, 
once known, from a close examination, never to 
be let slip out of memory. The design was likewise 
of infinite benefit to the colonies, because it afforded 
the means of enriching them by returns from Britain, 
which, though nature furnished them with the com¬ 
modities, they could not otherwise have had. It 
removed impediments that had long subsisted—it 
opened a way for improvement, that, though often 
wished for, could not but with the assistance of this 
method be attempted ; and it converted into value 
and use, lands and timber that would otherwise 
have produced nothing. To the inhabitants of the 
colonies, therefore, there could be nothing more 
satisfactory—hardly anything so advantageous. But 
though this is saying a great deal, yet it is not all. 

“As salutary and as profitable as this measure 
might be, considered in these distinct lights, yet its 
worth was heightened, its importance raised, and its 
utility demonstrated from another consideration, 
which was, its uniting the mother country and her 
daughters in those points of interest which ought to 
be eminently dear to both. At the same time that 
it freed Great Britain from depending upon foreign¬ 
ers, it made her sensibly feel the support she re¬ 
ceived from her plantations; and while the colonies 
reaped a just return of profit from this assistance. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


113 


they were, at the same time, more closely connected, 
and taught to discover, the strong and inseparable 
ties by which they were bound to the mother coun¬ 
try. These were the undeniable consequences of 
Captain Coram’s project, and which will do eternal 
honour to his memory : they were the true and only 
motives to that ardour with which he pursued it. 
Enthusiasm was natural to his constitution ; but it 
was a political enthusiasm of the most noble kind— 
it was that of laying out all his faculties for the 
public good. 

“But we must not imagine, that this gentleman’s 
knowledge of and love for the colonies carried him, 
in any degree, out of that path which a true Briton 
ought to tread. He loved the daughters dearly; 
but he loved them as daughters, and therefore could 
not brook the least disrespect or disobedience in 
them towards their parent. The hatters, a very 
industrious and a very useful body of our manu¬ 
facturers, thought themselves, with reason, aggrieved 
by the method taken, in some of the plantations, to 
interfere with their trade at foreign markets. Cap¬ 
tain Coram no sooner heard of this complaint, than 
he examined it attentively and impartially, and 
when he perceived that it was founded in right, he 
espoused it with spirit, he prosecuted it with dili¬ 
gence, and he obtained for that laborious and inde¬ 
fatigable people all the redress they could expect. 
They would have acknowledged this service by a 
grateful and handsome return ; but Captain Coram 
had a notion, that if a man’s hands were not empty, 


114 


MEMORANDA, 


they could not long be clean: he had a just sense 
of their gratitude, but did not care to have it ex¬ 
pressed by any other present than that of a hat, 
which he received as often as he had occasion, and 
which, in its size, spoke the good wishes of the 
makers in a very legible character. 

“ In his private life this gentleman showed the 
same probity, the same cheerfulness, the same frank¬ 
ness, the same warmth, and the same affection that 
he discovered in matters which respected the public ; 
so that, as a master and as a husband, he acted 
upon the very same principles that he would have 
certainly shown if he had been raised to any con¬ 
spicuous station of life. It is necessary to mention 
this, that the uniformity of his conduct may appear, 
which affords the truest method of judging of men’s 
real characters, so as to leave no scruple or doubt 
upon the minds even of the most cautious enquirers. 
Beheld in this light, there could not well be con¬ 
ceived a man of greater simplicity of manners. What 
he thought, he spoke; what he wished, he declared 
without hesitation, pursued without relaxation or 
disguise, and never considered obstacles any farther 
than to discover means to surmount them. 

“ While he lived in that part of this metropolis 
which is the common residence of seafaring people, 
he used to come early into the city, and return late, 
according as his business required his presence; 
and both these circumstances afforded him frequent 
occasions of seeing young children exposed, some¬ 
times alive, sometimes dead, and sometimes dying, 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


115 


which affected him extremely. The reader cannot 
wonder at this ; for a public-spirited man is always 
humane : and he who is inclined to wear out his 
life in rendering services to his fellow-subjects, will 
naturally have the most tender feeling for the suffer¬ 
ings of his fellow-creatures. This was precisely 
Mr. Coram’s case: he saw this calamity in its pro¬ 
per light, and, like an honest and worthy man, 
thought it would do honour to the nation to show a 
public spirit of compassion for children thus de¬ 
serted, through the indigence or cruelty of their 
parents, and the rather because this was already 
done in other countries. 

“ He began, in respect to this design, as he did in 
all others, with making it the topic of his conver¬ 
sation, that he might learn the sentiments of other 
men, and from thence form some notion whether 
what he had in view was practicable. It was not 
long before he concluded in the affirmative, and, 
upon frequent trials, he found that there were num¬ 
bers of all ranks of his sentiments, and not a few 
who thought it a shame, that a charity so obvious, 
so useful, and so necessary, should have been so 
long neglected. This pleased him extremely, and 
he undertook, with the greatest alacrity possible, to 
bring so noble, so beneficent, so charitable, so na¬ 
tional, and so Christian an undertaking to bear, by 
procuring for it the sanction of public authority. 
But alas ! he found his expectations strangely disap¬ 
pointed by an infinity of cross accidents that would 
certainly have wearied out the patience of a man 


116 


MEMORANDA, 


whose resolution had not been equal to the vehe¬ 
mence of his temper. To this circumstance Mr. Co¬ 
ram opposed an unrelenting perseverance, arising 
from a well-founded persuasion, that if the design 
was not carried into execution by him, it might for 
a long time, perhaps for ever, remain abortive. 

“ This laudable, this invincible obstinacy, carried 
him through seventeen years of labour, which scarce 
any other man would have supported for seventeen 
months, if his own private fortune had been the 
basis of his pursuit. In this space, the opinion of 
the public had been frequently declared on his side; 
and several persons of sound sense and enlarged 
minds actually bequeathed considerable sums to this 
charity, when it should have a legal authority, 
which was the highest testimony they could possibly 
bear of their sense of its utility. Our advocate for 
the helpless and the unborn left no stone unturned, 
let no opportunity slip, but continued to solicit where 
he had no interest, with as much ardour and anxiety 
as if every deserted child had been his own, and the 
cause of the unfounded Hospital that of his family. 
His arguments moved some—the natural humanity 
of their own temper more—his firm and generous 
example most of all; for even people of rank began 
to be ashamed to see a man’s hair become grey in 
the course of a solicitation by which he was to get 
nothing. Those who did not enter far enough into 
the case to compassionate the unhappy infants for 
whom he was a suitor, could not help pitying him, 
or indeed forbear admiring a virtue so much more 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


117 


worthy of respect, considering the age in which it 
was exerted — a virtue, which would have done 
honour to the most virtuous nations in the most vir¬ 
tuous periods—a virtue that made an impression 
even on such as thought it incomprehensible. But 
however it was, an impression it made, and a gene¬ 
ral disposition appeared in favour of this charity. It 
is, however, doubtful what effect this would have 
had, or how soon that effect might have been pro¬ 
duced, if it had any. 

“ But this good man, whose head was fertile in 
expedients, bethought himself at last of applying to 
the ladies. He knew their nature, he knew their 
influence, and soon found that he was in the right 
road. They did not listen much to his arguments, 
for the sweetness of their own tempers supplied 
a tenderness that rendered arguments unnecessary. 
They concurred with Mr. Coram in his design, and 
they concurred in his own way. They were earnest, 
assiduous, and sincere, and manifested a greater 
eagerness to do good than the most self-interested 
dare avow in pursuits upon their own account. This 
answered its end ; and, by the help of these aux¬ 
iliaries, Mr. Coram was enabled to procure a charter, 
to prevent the most infamous of all murders, because 
the most unnatural, and which will supply thou¬ 
sands of useful subjects to the crown of Great Bri¬ 
tain—a charter which did honour to the great seal, 
and spoke, in a literal sense, that prince whose 
stamp it bore—the father of his people, as he was 
before confessed in every other sense whatever. 


118 


MEMORANDA, 


“OnTuesday, November20th, 1739, was held at 
Somerset House, the first general meeting of the 
nobility and gentry appointed by his Majesty's royal 
charter to be Governors and Guardians of the Hos¬ 
pital for the maintenance and education of exposed 
and deserted young children, to hear their charter 
read, and to appoint their Secretary and a Com¬ 
mittee. Previous to the reading of the charter. 
Captain Coram, the petitioner for the charter, ad¬ 
dressed his Grace the Duke of Bedford, the Presi¬ 
dent, in the following manner :— 

“ ‘ My Lord Duke of Bedford, 

* It is with inexpressible pleasure i now present 
your Grace, at the head of this noble and honourable 
corporation, with his Majesty’s royal charter, for 
establishing an Hospital for exposed children, free of 
all expense, through the assistance of some compas¬ 
sionate great ladies, and other good persons. 

‘I can, my lord, sincerely aver, that nothing 
would have induced me to embark in a design so 
ful of difficulties and discouragements, but a zeal 
for the service of his Majesty, in preserving the lives 
of great numbers of his innocent subjects. 

‘The long and melancholy experience of this 
nation has too demonstrably shewn, with what bar¬ 
barity tender infants have been exposed and destroy¬ 
ed, for want of proper means of preventing the disgrace , 
and succouring the necessities of their parents. 

‘ The charter will disclose the extensive nature 
and end of this Charity, in much stronger terms than 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


119 


I can possibly pretend to describe them, so that I 
have only to thank your .Grace and many other noble 
personages, for all that favourable protection which 
hath given life and spirit to my endeavours. 

* M y Lord, although my declining years will not 
permit me to hope seeing the full accomplishment of 
my wishes, yet I can now rest satisfied, and it is 
what I esteem an ample reward of more than seven¬ 
teen years expensive labour and steady application, 
that I see your Grace at the head of this charitable 
trust, assisted by so many noble and honourable 
Governors. 

‘ Under such powerful influences and directions, 
I am confident of the final success of my endeavours, 
and that the public will one day reap the happy and 
lasting fruits of your Grace’s and this Corporation’s 
measures, and as long as my life and poor abilities 
endure, I shall not abate of my zealous wishes and 
most active services for the good and prosperity of 
this truly noble and honourable Corporation.’ ” 

“ After the charter was read, Dr. Mead, in the 
most pathetic manner, set forth the necessity of such 
an Hospital, and the vast advantages that must 
accrue to the nation by this useful establishment, 
which was received with universal approbation, be¬ 
cause nobody could entertain the least doubt of the 
truth or certainty of what the Doctor said. 

“ At a subsequent Court, the same learned person 
moved, that the thanks of the Corporation might be 
given to Mr. Thomas Coram, for his indefatigable 


120 


MEMORANDA, 


and successful applications in favour of this charity, 
which otherwise would have wanted a legal founda¬ 
tion. It may be easily supposed, that the good old 
man was not insensible on receiving the only reward 
of which his labours were capable. But he was just, 
as well as generous, and would not take more to 
himself than he deserved. He therefore desired that 
the thanks of the Corporation might be likewise 
given to the ladies,* through whose assistance his 
own endeavours became effectual, and he was ac¬ 
cordingly empowered to return them the thanks of 
that honourable body, which was an additional plea¬ 
sure to a mind sincere and grateful like his. 

“ Time and accidents could make but little altera¬ 
tion in his temper. The motives from which he first 
espoused this charity, kept him always attached to 
its interests; he often visited the Hospital, and saw 
the children rescued from misery by his care and 
compassion, with as much pleasure and tenderness 
as if they had been his own, as indeed in some sense 
they were. He beheld the lists of benefactors with 
more pleasure than a miser regards those of his secu¬ 
rities. He had the same delight in perceiving the 


* Even in the case of the “ ladies” he had sometimes to encounter diffi¬ 
culties. Attached to a memorial addressed “ To H. R. H. the Princess 
Amelia,” now lodged at the Hospital, is the following note 

“ On Innocent’s Day, the 28th of December, 1737, I went to St. James’s 
Palace to present this petition, having been advised first to address the 
lady of the bed-chamber in waiting to introduce it. But the Lady Isabella 
Pinch, who was the lady in waiting, gave me very rough words, and bid 
me be gone with my petition, which I did, without opportunity of pre¬ 
senting it.” 





FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


121 


quick progress of this excellent establishment, as a 
man of another turn would have felt from the im¬ 
provement of his own estate. This was peculiar to 
his character—this was the ruling passion of his 
mind—this was the elixir that kept him from feeling 
the frowns of fortune in the winter of his age. 
Wrapt in that cloak of public spirit, which, though 
worn for so many years, never grew threadbare, he 
heard those storms whistle around him, unmoved, 
which would have frighted a person of ordinary cou¬ 
rage out of his wits. 

“ For the truth is, honest reader, and 1 must not 
conceal it, that this worthy man, who could feel so 
much for others, felt but little for himself. After he 
lost his wife, the only loss for which he ever showed 
much regret, he was so attentive to public affairs, as to 
be a little too careless of his own, insomuch, that he 
might have known even this evil, which no man could 
have known, while it was in his power to relieve. 
But his friend Mr. Gideon, who loved him for loving 
the public, interposed, and obtained a subscription 
for his comfortable support, towards which. His 
Royal Highness the late Prince of Wales subscribed 
twenty guineas per annum, and paid it with as much 
punctuality as any of the rest of the subscribers, who 
were most of them merchants ; and upon this friendly 
assistance which he lived to want, but not to ask, he 
subsisted for some time, which gave him an oppor¬ 
tunity to form new schemes of the same kind with 
those he had executed already; schemes full of good¬ 
ness, and which had a tendency to spread the influ- 

R 


122 


MEMORANDA, 


ence of Britain, and to expand the nations glory in 
the like degree. 

“The reader may be surprised—and indeed his 
surprise will be very excusable—that a person whose 
worth and services were so well known should be 
left to such distress, and that in a country where the 
public pays so much to place-men, no notice should 
be taken of a man who deserved a place so well as 
Mr. Coram did. But first of all, it must be consi¬ 
dered, that though the public discharge the expense 
of many, yet their choice is asked in filling very few 
places. Our hero had, indeed, very great qualities, 
but they were far from being well turned for any 
thing of this kind. He who had spent his life in 
soliciting for others, could not speak a word for 
himself. It is therefore no wonder that he was not 
provided for. Dumb men are not fit for places. 
But if the reader enquires why he did not speak, 
the answer, perhaps, may not be difficult. Men of 
true public spirit are, of all others, the most ashamed 
to ask private favours. In others it would be pride, 
in them it is the effect of principle. It may be said, 
then, a place should have been given him. To this 
there can be no reply ; yet, perhaps, it may be some 
excuse to say, that, while a multitude of claims are 
put in for every place, we have no reason to be 
amazed, that a man who would never ask should 
always be forgot. 

“ But Providence provided for him, and he had a 
comfortable subsistence to the last, by a method 
that he did not, nor indeed could take amiss. He 




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FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


123 


was maintained by the voluntary subscription* of 
men of public spirit: this was an honour to them, 
and an honour to him. Had his distress been gene¬ 
rally known, he might, no doubt, have been more 
amply provided for; but this was what he did not 
want, and what he would never seek. He was con¬ 
tent with a little—pleased with being his own mas¬ 
ter, and with having the liberty to employ his 
thoughts, to the end of his life, in the same manner 
that they had been employed from the beginning— 
in contriving for the public benefit; for whatever 
his circumstances were, his heart could never be 
narrow. 

“ His last design, now left an orphan to the public 
care, which it well deserves, was a scheme for 
uniting the Indians in North America more closely 
to the British interest, by an establishment for the 
education of Indian girls. This is, indeed, a very 
political contrivance ; for if the girls be brought up 
in Christian principles, we have just grounds to 
hope—indeed, we have no reason to doubt—that the 
Indian children, of both sexes, in the next genera¬ 
tion, will be brought up Christians. This would be 


* On Dr. Brocklesby applying to Captain Coram, to know whether a 
subscription being opened for his benefit would not offend him, he received 
this noble answer:—“ I have not wasted the little wealth of which I was 
formerly possessed in self-indulgence and vain expenses, and am not 
ashamed to confess that, in this my old age, I am poor.” 

Upon the death of Coram, this pension was continued to poor old Leve- 
ridge, for whose volume of songs Hogarth had, in 1727, engraved a title- 
page and frontispiece, and who, at the age of ninety, had scarcely any 
other prospect than that of a parish subsistence.— J. Ireland . 




124 


MEMORANDA, 


a refined stroke of policy; for he is the wisest and 
ablest of all politicians who, by promoting the glory 
of God, interests the Divine Providence in extending 
the power of any nation. We know in how won¬ 
derful a manner the gospel was propagated ; and 
we may confidently expect, that where this is sin¬ 
cerely the aim of any government, the same assist¬ 
ance will not be wanting: for whatever men may 
do, the great Author of all things never alters his 
maxims, and to follow them is the most infallible 
method of seeming, might we not say commanding, 
success. May this charitable and pious purpose, in 
which he lived long enough to make some progress, 
be completed in virtue of his proposal; and let the 
benighted Indians in America join with the deserted 
Foundlings in Britain in blessing the memory of this 
worthy man, by whom a provision was made that 
they should come to the knowledge of truth, and of 
the means of making themselves happy here by their 
industry, and by their piety, hereafter. 

“ If it had been in our power to have taken notice 
of all the other instances he gave of beneficence, 
fortitude, and love for society, which are the true 
virtues of a patriot, this little work would swell to a 
volume. What is here said, therefore, must be re¬ 
garded as an imperfect and hasty sketch of his cha¬ 
racter, which however may, from its intention, rather 
than performance, be agreeable to his friends, and 
may perhaps serve, in some measure, to excite in 
others a desire of imitating so amiable an example ; 
for who that has any respect for virtue, any appetite 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


1*25 


to laudable and spotless fame—the noblest purchase 
that human industry can'make—can be insensible to 
that just and general concern which the best and 
worthiest men in this metropolis have shown for the 
loss of Captain Coram, or that readiness with which 
they have expressed their approbation of his conduct, 
and the voluntary testimonies they have given to his 
merit and services. These are things that will affect 
those who are above the common pursuits of the 
world, who seek not either tinsel grandeur or the 
embarrassment of riches, but yet are far from leading 
a life of indolence, or disclaiming all pretensions 
to that glory which is so properly the reward of 
virtue, that it can attend on nothing else. 

“ This singular and memorable man exchanged 
this life for a better, and passed from doing to enjoy¬ 
ing good, on Friday, March 29th, 1751, in the four¬ 
score and fourth year of his age, making it his last 
request, that his corpse might be interred in the 
Chapel of the Foundling Hospital, which shows he 
had that excellent foundation at his heart, when all 
things that regarded this world besides were out of 
his thoughts—a circumstance that demonstrates the 
steadiness of his affection, and the happiness he had 
of what he had done for this place, when he was on 
the point of going where pious and charitable actions 
afford the highest recommendations—where his me¬ 
rit in that and in all other respects will be fully 
known and fully rewarded. 

“Accordingly, on Wednesday, the 3rd of April, 
agreeable to his request, his remains were interred 


126 


MEMORANDA, 


in the Chapel of this Hospital, his pall supported by 
six, and his funeral attended by a great number 
of the honourable and worthy persons who are 
Governors of this useful charity, and who manifested, 
upon this melancholy occasion, that sincere regard 
for the deceased, and the pleasure they took in 
paying this deserved respect to his memory —a cere¬ 
mony which, joined to the high reputation and nume¬ 
rous acquaintance of the deceased, could not have 
failed of attracting abundance of public-spirited per¬ 
sons, desirous of giving this last mark of their esteem 
for a man of Mr. Coram’s worth, and who, through 
the progress of a long life, had shown himself a 
laudable as well as active member of society. 

“ But the concourse was much increased, and the 
solemnity of the funeral greatly heightened, by the 
voluntary appearance of the choir of St. Paul's Ca¬ 
thedral, who were at the Hospital, ready in their 
surplices to receive the body, and who performed, 
with the universal approbation of a crowded and 
distinguished audience, a grave and noble piece of 
music, suitable to the sad occasion, and which, with 
the genuine testimonies of sorrow, not to be sup¬ 
pressed, did all the honour to this good man that 
even the piety and affection of his friends could 
expect. The Governors of the Hospital have it also 
in their intention to raise a suitable monument, 
though, indeed, the Hospital itself may be so styled, 
that posterity may be the better acquainted with 
his virtues, and their gratitude. 

“ Let me be permitted to conclude, with what 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


127 


may add some degree of merit to this little piece, 
deficient enough in other respects, the words made 
use of by a friend of his, in the paragraph which 
gave the first hint to this performance, and which is, 
indeed, a true character of Mr. Thomas Coram in 
very few words :— 

“ ‘ That when others are remembered by titles and 
adulations , his shall be nobler fame to have lived above 
the fear of everything but an unworthy action .’ ” 


The following Inscription, cut in stone, is placed 
in the southern arcade of the Chapel. 

“CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM, 

whose name will never want a monument 
so long as this Hospital shall subsist, 
was born in the year 1668 ; 
a man eminent in that most eminent virtue, 
the love of mankind ; 
little attentive to his private fortune, 
and refusing many opportunities of increasing it, 
his time and thoughts were continually employed 
in endeavours to promote the public happiness, 
both in this kingdom and elsewhere; 
particularly in the Colonies of North America ; 
and his endeavours were many times crowned 
with the desired success. 

His unwearied solicitation, for above seventeen years together, 
(which would have baffled the patience and industry 
of any man less zealous in doing good) 
and his application to persons of distinction, of both sexes, 
obtained at length the Charter of the Incorporation, 

(bearing date the 17th of October, 1739,) 
for the maintenance and education 
of exposed and deserted young children, 
by which many thousands of lives 
may be preserved to the public, and employed in a frugal 
and honest course of industry. 



128 


MEMORANDA, 


He died the 29th March, 1751, in the 84th year of his age ; 
poor in worldly estate, rich in good works . 
and was buried, at his own desire, in the Vault underneath this 
Chapel (the first there deposited) at the east end thereof, 
many of the governors and other gentlemen 
attending the funeral to do honour to his memory. 

Reader, 

Thy actions will shew whether thou art sincere 
in the praises thou may’st bestow on him; 
and if thou hast virtue enough to commend his virtues, 
forget not to add also the imitation of them.” 


PORTRAIT OF THOMAS EMMERSON, Esq., 

(A Governor and most liberal Contributor) 

By HIGHMORE. 

Of whom an account has already been given. 


A LARGE SEA-PEICE, 

(Representing the English Fleet in the Downs) 

By monamy. 

Monamy, who was a good painter of sea-pieces, 
was born in Jersey, and from his circumstances, or 
the views of his family, had little reason to expect 
the fame he afterwards acquired; having received 
his first rudiments of drawing from a sign and house- 
painter on London Bridge. But when nature gives 
real talents, they break forth in the homeliest school. 
The shallow waves that rolled under his window 
taught young Monamy what his master could not 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


129 


teach him, and fitted him to imitate the turbulence 
of the ocean. In Painters’ Hall is a large piece by 
him, painted in 1726. He died at his house in 
Westminster, the beginning of 1749. 


THE CARTOON OF THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENTS, 
By RAFFAEL. 

This cartoon came into the possession of the Hos¬ 
pital by the conditional bequest of Prince Iloare, 
Esq., as follows:— 

“ I direct that my cartoon painted by Raffaelli, 
representing the Murder of the Innocents, be offered 
by my executors, hereinafter named, to the Presi¬ 
dent and Council of the Royal Academy of Arts, for 
sale at the price of two thousand pounds, and if they 
should decline becoming the purchasers at that price 
wholly, or should not purchase it within six months 
after it be offered to them, Then I direct my 
executors to offer it to the Directors of the National 
Gallery at the price of four thousand pounds, and if 
they should decline to purchase it at that sum wholly, 
or should not purchase it within twelve months after 
it has been so offered to them— 

“ Then 1 will and direct, that the said cartoon be 
presented either to the Foundling Hospital , or to a 
Public Hall or College, according to the decision 
of my friends the said Samuel Prado, and Sharon 
Turner, and Mr. Howard, the Secretary of the Royal 
Academy, or the decision of any two of them.” 
s 



130 


MEMORANDA, 


The Council of the Royal Academy of Arts, and 
the Directors of the National Gallery, having declined 
purchasing the cartoon upon the terms stated, it was 
then presented to the Hospital by the Trustees 
named in Mr. Hoare’s will. 

The late lamented painter, B. R. Haydon, in a 
letter to the Secretary of the Hospital, dated 3rd 
October, 1837, has given the following graphical 
account of this picture : — 

“ Dear Sir, 

“ I was extremely gratified yesterday at having 
ocular demonstration by your kindness, that one of 
the finest instances in the world of variety of expres¬ 
sion and beauty of composition, as a work of 4 high 
art,’ was out of danger and secure : I allude to the 
centre part of one of the last cartoons which be¬ 
longed to the set executed by Raffael, at the order 
of Leo X., and sent afterwards to Flanders, to be 
executed in tapestry, for the purpose of increasing 
the splendour of those exhibitions, so well known 
in Rome during Lent, at the Vatican. 

" The original number was thirteen ; but, in con¬ 
sequence of the Flemish weavers cutting them into 
slips for their working machinery, after the tapestry 
was executed and sent to Rome, the original car¬ 
toons were left mingled together, without care or 
interest, in boxes. 

“ When Rubens was in England, he told Charles I. 
the condition they were in; and the king, who had 
the finest taste, desired him to procure them. Seven 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


131 


perfect ones were purchased, all, it may be inferred, 
which remained, and sent to his Majesty: what 
became, or had become of the remainder, nobody 
knows ; but here and there, all over Europe, frag¬ 
ments have appeared. At Oxford there are two or 
three heads ; and, I believe, the Duke of Hamilton 
or Buccleuch have others. But this sublime frag¬ 
ment, possessed by the Governors, is certainly the 
largest portion of those which are last remaining. I 
am quite sure, on this explanation, the Governors 
will perceive, on every point of view, the value, 
both as property and as a work of art, of this invalu¬ 
able composition. After the king’s misfortunes, the 
cartoons now at Hampton Court were sold, with the 
rest of his Majesty’s fine collection ; but by Crom¬ 
well’s express order, they were bought in for three 
hundred pounds. 

“ During the reign of Charles II., they were 
offered to France for fourteen thousand francs, but 
Charles was dissuaded from selling them. I cannot 
give you my authority at the moment. 

“ This portion of the Murder of the Innocents 
was sold at Westminster as disputed property. 
Prince Hoare’s father, before the sale, explained 
to an opulent friend the great treasure about to be 
disposed of, and persuaded him to advance the 
money requisite, on condition of sharing the pro¬ 
perty. To his great wonder, he bought it for twenty- 
six pounds, and his friend, having no taste, told 
Mr. Hoare, if he would paint him and his family, he 
would relinquish his right. 


132 


MEMORANDA, 


“ I had these particulars from Prince Hoare, (his 
son) who repeatedly told me. I took Canova to see 
it (1815), who was enthusiastic in admiration; and 
I was allowed, in my early studies (1804), thirty* 
three years ago, to copy all the heads, and I am 
quite sure there is hardly a day passes in which I do 
not feel the great advantage of so sublime a model 
for expression and composition. Look at the villain 
in front, grappling the leg of a victim child, and 
rolling on like a mountain fragment, which nothing 
can arrest! while the fiery and passionate mother 
throttles the monster to save her child, though you 
can perceive the mere physical weight of the iron¬ 
faced murderer will render her feminine resistance 
useless and in vain ! 

“ As an instance of preserving beauty in violent 
expression, this head is unequalled in any of the 
great works of art in the world. It is a model of 
study, and I remember nothing to be compared 
to it. 

“Above this group is a woman of phlegmatic 
nature, as a contrast to the violent temperament of 
the one below; she is pale, blank, and utterly un¬ 
nerved ; she stares at the murderer, who is pressing 
down the innocent face of her infant, and dashing 
the dagger into its throat, quite paralyzed and un¬ 
able to resist. Above her is a young mother, with 
long hair, tenderly protecting her child, while the 
group is finished by a scoundrel, who, holding the 
hair of one that is trying to escape, stabs the infant 
of the opposite woman, who has her hand in his eyes. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


133 


“For all the intricate beauties of composition, for 
various modifications of the same feeling, according 
to the character chosen, there is no finer example 
any where, and such a work ought not to be in a 
back room badly lighted and scarcely seen, but in a 
room by itself, well lighted, the walls coloured on 
purpose, and in fact, such a production for the sake 
of the art, should be shewn off to every advantage. 
It would be justice to Raffael, an honor to the Hos¬ 
pital and its Governors, and a kind compliment to 
my late friend : it would do the English school great 
good, and advance the taste of all classes. 

“ One day in the week an advanced student, 
under proper introduction, might be admitted to 
finish his studies from it, and it might always be 
regularly shewn and explained to the visitors. 

“ Pray, my dear Sir, lay my letter before the 
Governors, if you think it would not be a liberty, at 
their next meeting, and be assured I have no other 
object but the good of the art, the tenderest respect 
for my late friend, and an earnest desire to see so 
valuable a prize preserved as long as the materials 
will hold together. 


“ I am, dear Sir, 

“ With every apology, 

“ Truly yours, 

“ B. R. Haydon.” 


“ To M. Lievesley, Esq.” 


The Governors of the Hospital have since sent 


134 


MEMORANDA, 


this valuable cartoon, by way of loan, to the Di¬ 
rectors of the National Gallery, for exhibition to the 
public, where it may now be seen to advantage, the 
Directors having been at considerable expense in 
restoring it, and securing it against damage for the 
future.* 

Mr. Prince Hoare, the donor of this work of art to 
the Hospital, was author of various dramatic and 
other writings. He was born and educated at Bath, 
and instructed in painting by his father, William 
Hoare, one of the original members of the Royal 
Academy. He went to Italy for the further acquire¬ 
ment of his art, and studied at Rome, under Mengs; 
but after his return, through infirm health, declined 
the profession. The following are his dramatic pro¬ 
ductions, of which a few only are published: — 
“ Julia, or, Such Things Were—tragedy; Indis¬ 
cretion ; Sighs, or the Daughter; The Partners— 
comedies; No Song, No Supper; The Cave of Tro- 
phonius; Dido; The Prize; My Grandmother; 
Three and the Deuce ; Lock and Key ; Mahmoud ; 
The Friend in Need; The Captive of Spilberg; 
Italian Villagers; Chains of the Heart—musical 
pieces.” 

In consequence of succeeding, in 1799, to the 
honorary appointment of Secretary for Foreign Cor¬ 
respondence to the Royal Academy, he published 
“ Academic Annals of Painting, Sculpture, and Ar¬ 
chitecture,” a work since continued by the academy 


* Mr. Kinton, an old friend and one of the executors of Mr. Hoare, was 
elected a Governor in consequence of the bequest of the above cartoon. 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


135 


at successive periods ; and, shortly afterwards, “ An 
Inquiry into the Requisite Cultivation and Present 
State of the Arts of Design in England.” “The 
Artist,” a collection of essays, written chiefly by 
professional persons (to which he contributed seve¬ 
ral papers), is edited by him. 

In 1813, he published “Epochs of Art,” containing 
historical observations on the uses and progress of 
painting and sculpture. This last work is dedicated 
to the Prince Regent. He is author of a little piece 
entitled, “ Love’s Victims,” and some tracts of a 
moral tendency. 

Besides the works above enumerated, Mr. Prince 
Hoare, in 1820, published “ Memoirs of the late 
Granville Sharpe, Esq.,” a gentleman universally es¬ 
teemed for his learning, piety, and political rectitude. 

In the year 1825 he published a tract, entitled, 
“ Easter; a Companion to the Book of Common 
Prayer.” This small but valuable work is a manual 
explanatory of all the Latin words and phrases, and 
other appropriate terms of the church service, with 
other matters essential to the due comprehension of 
its important subject. In this interesting and learned 
work, which would do honour to any ecclesiastical 
authority, he has modestly suppressed his name, 
and published it under the simple designation of 
“ A Layman.” 



136 


MEMORANDA, 


The following communication has been made to 
the compiler, by his friend Morris Lievesley, Esq., 
who has been officially connected with the Hospital 
more than half a century :— 

“ Foundling Hospital, 1st Jan. 1847. 

u My dear Mr. Brownlow, 

“ I have much pleasure in complying with your 
request, that I would communicate to you, for the 
work you have in hand, such anecdotes connected 
with this Institution as were either related to me by 
my predecessors in office, or to which I myself have 
been a party ; and I do it the more cheerfully, feel¬ 
ing that being admitted into your pages, (however 
trifling their character) they will obtain that notice 
which I consider them deserving of. 

“ I remain my dear Mr. Brownlow, 

“Yours faithfully, 

“ Morris Lievesley.” 

Elijah raising the Son of the Widow .—This picture 
was submitted to sale by auction under the auspices 
of the then celebrated Mr. Langford, who, finding 
there were no bidders—probably from its being a 
portion of a large picture, said, “ Gentlemen, if 
you will allow me, I will bid ten guineas for it, 
and withdraw the lot, upon the understanding that 
I may be permitted to make a donation of it to the 
Foundling Hospital.” 

Safer Little Children to come unto Me.—This pic¬ 
ture, from a want of tone in the colouring, has not 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


137 


received the encomium which, in other respects, it 
merits. Mr. West, the late President of the Royal 
Academy, having one day attentively examined it, 
and being informed of the public opinion regarding 
it, observed, “ that may be true, but I never saw a 
picture exhibiting finer and more correct drawing 
of limbs. It should be sent to the Royal Academy, 
for the younger artists to study from.” 

Altar-Piece.— This picture has been twice re¬ 
touched by the artist, indeed nearly re-painted. 
On its being finally placed in its present position, 
Mr. West observed to the Secretary, who was stand¬ 
ing by his side, “I knew nothing of harmony in 
colouring until I re-painted this picture; it stands 
now one of my best class of works, and you are at 
liberty to say I said so then taking the Secretary 
by the arm, Mr. West placed him in a position, 
saying, “ this is the focal distance to view it—re¬ 
member that.” 

When the Arch-Duke Nicholas (the present Em¬ 
peror of Russia), with his brother the Arch-Duke 
Michael, visited the Foundling Hospital, he gave 
much attention to the altar-piece, and was placed at 
the precise focal distance laid down by Mr. West. 
Having looked at the picture some minutes, the 
Arch-Duke Nicholas observed to the Secretary, who 
was in waiting upon the Royal visitors and their 
suite, that there was a stain upon the face of Christ 
which should be attended to, and instantly mounting 
T 


138 


MEMORANDA, 


the communion table, and touching with his finger a 
clot of paint in the centre of the forehead he found 
it soft and oozing, and requested that Mr. West 
might be immediately informed of the discovery. 
Mr. West attended, and had the picture removed to 
his studio. When it was returned and replaced in 
its frame, the artist, addressing the Secretary, said, 
“ I will tell you all about it. Sir Joseph Banks in¬ 
troduced to the Society a new fish oil which he 
recommended to be used by all artists. I fell into 
his notions, and painted with fish oil some of my 
best pictures, but the d—d oil will not dry—no dryer 
will do—scraping will not do unless you scrape the 
canvass also. D—n the fellow, he has given me 
more trouble than all the fish oil in the world is 
worth. I now mix all my colours in my own house i 
I will not even trust * * * * 

Sea-Piece .—Taylor White, Esq., then Treasurer of 
the Foundling, having purchased several small Sea- 
pieces at a broker’s shop in Fleet Market, was in¬ 
duced, on finding a succession of similar pictures 
from the same pencil offered for sale, to enquire for 
the name and condition of the artist; and after much 
difficulty he ascertained the name to be Brooking, 
and that he resided in a garret of the house belonging 
to the broker. In consequence of an interview be¬ 
tween Mr. White and Brooking, the latter was 
encouraged to paint the sea-piece in question in one 
of the rooms of the Institution, his garret not afford- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


139 


ing sufficient space. The picture was painted in 
eighteen days, and its merits are supposed not to 
be surpassed by any other marine painter. 

Moses and Pharaoh's Daughter .—The celebrated 
John Wilkes, when a young man, was elected a 
Governor of the Foundling. At a meeting of 
the General Court, a question was mooted which 
threatened protracted debate, when Mr. Wilkes, 
who was then almost unknown amongst his col¬ 
leagues, rose and said, “ I see no difficulty in the 
matter at issue. The question is this—Are the bene¬ 
fits of this charity to be limited to children who are 
exposed and deserted—that is, left naked on Salis¬ 
bury Plain ? I maintain that a mother dying from 
want, with her infant at her breast, that infant falls 
within the view of the charter. Are we living under 
the dispensations of Christianity, and yet cripple our 
notions of charity ? then, turning to the picture— 
“ If so,” continued he, “ let us fall back upon ancient 
times, and take a lesson from the heathen maid.” 



140 


MEMOHANDA, 


THE CHAPEL. 

The Chapel was erected, by subscription, in the 
year 1747, on the original plan by Mr. Jacobsen, 
forming the central feature of the north and south 
fronts of the Hospital building. 

Its frontage was then limited in extent to the five 
middle divisions of the open arcades, and the eleva¬ 
tion of the superstructure being detached from the 
main buildings on each side, presented more dis¬ 
tinctness of character in itself, and was advantageous 
in its effect to the general design of the building. The 
lower part, or ground plan of the Chapel, was thus 
isolated by a continued arched corridor, forming a 
sub-structure for the extension of the upper part, 
which, on the north and south sides, became a por¬ 
tion of the original building, and was subsequently 
extended over the east and west ends. 

The lower area of the building continues of the 
original extent, its enclosure forming the appro¬ 
priate basement of a regular colonnade and enta¬ 
blature of the Ionic order, raised on pedestals, with 
intermediate continued balustrade, enclosing the 
front of the sittings in the upper part of the build¬ 
ing throughout. 

A coved ceiling, of handsome design, springing 
from the entablature of the colonnade, extends over 
the central area, or main division of the building, 
with enriched bands and pendants on its soffite, 
and the ceilings of the side and east-end divisions 
are enriched by soffites and arched bands, of appro- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


141 


priate unity of design with the architecture of the 
colonnade. 

The west end is entirely appropriated to the occu¬ 
pation of the children, and for the organ and choir; 
and from a late alteration, by the removal of part of 
the original construction, and entire new arrange¬ 
ment of the seats and of the choir, the effect of the 
general distribution has been much improved, by its 
suitable distinctness, without interfering with the 
general uniformity. 

The design and effect of the interior of this build¬ 
ing is admitted to be striking and impressive; and 
as an instance of the mode of distribution of so large 
a portion of the congregation, at an upper level, 
with pleasing uniformity and picturesque architec¬ 
tural effect, without the disfigurement generally at¬ 
tendant upon galleries, under "the most favourable 
circumstances ; it may be considered a specimen of 
some originality, and worthy of observation. Some 
alteration and improvement of the details of the style 
and decoration of the interior, was probably made at 
the period of the extension of this building, and the 
windows at the eastern end filled with stained glass. 
This enrichment has lately been extended also to the 
windows on the south front. 

The panelling on the sides of the lower area, form¬ 
ing the basement of the colonnade, being of regular 
design and suitable proportions for pictures, would, 
at this favourable period for the advancement of 
fresco painting, become peculiarly appropriate for 
a partial, if not entire application of them for sacred 


142 


MEMORANDA, 


subjects, after the great masters, and congenial to 
the spirit and advancement of the British art, and 
the distinguished artists that fostered the original 
establishment of the charity. 

The simple and appropriate distinction given to 
the divisions of panelling immediately connected 
with the altar-table, on the east side, could always 
be continued to be maintained.* The cost of the 
erection of the Chapel was £6,490. 

The advertisement inviting subscribers set forth, 
“ that the Governors being earnestly desirous that 
the children under their care should be early in¬ 
structed in the principles of religion and morality, 
and having no place of public worship to which the 
children and servants of the Hospital could con¬ 
veniently resort, have resolved to erect a Chapel 
adjoining to their Hospital; but that no part of 
the revenue of the said Hospital which is or shall be 
given for the support of the children, may be diverted 
from that use: and in order to defray the expense 
of erecting the said Chapel, they have opened a 
subscription for that purpose/’ 

His Majesty George II. subscribed £2,000 towards 
the erection, and afterwards £1,000 towards sup¬ 
plying a preacher in the Chapel, to instruct the 
children in the Christian religion, and for other inci¬ 
dental expenses. 


* This architectural description has been kindly furnished by Joseph Kay, 
Esq., who has been, for nearly half a century, the architect and surveyor 
of the Hospital and its estates. 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


143 


Handel . 

Handel, as if influenced by a kindred feeling 
with Hogarth (for genius is ever noble and gene¬ 
rous), very soon engaged in the work of charity 
at this popular institution. On the 4th May, 1749, 
he attended the committee at the Hospital, and 
offered a performance of vocal and instrumental 
music, the money arising therefrom to be applied 
towards the finishing of the Chapel. 

This performance is thus alluded to in the “ Gen¬ 
tleman’s Magazine” of that month :— 

“The Prince and Princess of Wales, with a great 
number of persons of quality and distinction, were at 
the Chapel of the Foundling Hospital, to hear several 
pieces of vocal and instrumental music composed by 
George Frederick Handel, Esq., for the benefit of 
the foundation. 1st. The music of the late Fire 
Works, and the anthem on the Peace: 2nd. Select 
pieces from the oratorio of Solomon, relating to the 
dedication of the temple: and 3rd. Several pieces 
composed for the occasion, the words taken from 
scripture, and applicable to the charity and its bene¬ 
factors. There was no collection, but the tickets 
were at half-a-guinea, and the audience above a 
thousand.” 

For this act of benevolence on the part of Handel, 
he was immediately enrolled as one of the Governors 
and Guardians of the Hospital. 

During every year after this, until his infirmity 
obliged him to relinquish his profession, he superin¬ 
tended personally the performance of his matchless 


144 


MEMORANDA 


Oratorio of the Messiah, in the Chapel, which netted 
to the Treasury of the Charity no less a sum than 
£7000. 

The Governors of the Hospital seeing the profit¬ 
ableness of this performance, and being (as it ap¬ 
peared") misinformed of Handel’s intention regarding 
the copyright, prepared a petition to Parliament to 
secure it for themselves. The latter part of this 
petition is as follows :— 

“ That in order to raise a further sum for the 
benefit of the said charity, George Frederick Handel, 
Esq., hath been charitably pleased to give to this 
corporation a composition of musick, called ‘ The 
Oratorio of the Messiah,’ composed by him the said 
George Frederick Handel, reserving to himself the 
liberty only of performing the same for his own 
benefit during his life : and whereas the said bene¬ 
faction cannot be secured to the sole use of your 
petitioners except by the authority of Parliament, 
your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray, that leave 
may be given to bring in a bill for the purposes 
aforesaid.” 

Upon one of the Governors waiting upon the 
musician with this form of petition, he soon disco¬ 
vered that the committee of the Hospital had built 
upon a wrong foundation ; for Handel, bursting into 
a rage, exclaimed—“Te Deivel! for vat sal de 
Foundling put mein oratorio in de Parlement ? Te 
Deivel! mein music sal not go to de Parlement! ” 

Here the matter dropped, never to be revived. 
At the completion of the Chapel, Handel presented 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


145 


the Governors with an organ, and other liberal con¬ 
tributions fell in on the same occasion. 

The Communion plate was presented by a Gover¬ 
nor, who desired to be “ unknown;” and the king’s 
upholsterer gave the velvets for the pulpit, &c. 

The Governors of the Hospital felt, naturally 
enough, a deep affection and veneration for Handel; 
and therefore, when, in April, 1753, a foolish para¬ 
graph appeared in the daily papers, stating, that he 
was preparing a funeral anthem, to be performed 
in the Chapel of the Hospital after his death, the 
Committee desired their Secretary to acquaint him, 
“ That the said paragraph has given this Committee 
great concern, they being highly sensible that all 
well-wishers to this charity must be desirous for the 
continuance of his life, who has been and is so great 
and generous a benefactor thereto.” 

With the full concurrence of Handel, the Gover¬ 
nors appointed his amanuensis and assistant, Mr. 
John Christopher Smith, the first organist of the 
Chapel. 

At the death of Handel, it was found he had made 
the following bequestI give a fair copy of the 
score, and all the parts of my oratorio called ‘ The 
Messiah,’ to the Foundling Hospital.” The Gover¬ 
nors resolved, in grateful memory of their friend and 
benefactor, to have a dirge and funeral anthem per¬ 
formed in the Chapel, on the 26th May, 1759, on 
the occasion of his demise, which performance took 
place under the direction of the organist of the 
Chapel, Mr. John Christopher Smith. 

u 


14 6 


MEMORANDA, 


Benjamin West, R.A. 

Mention has been already made, that, on the 
finishing of the Chapel, Chevalier Casali presented 
the Governors with an altar-piece, the subject being 
“ The Offering of the Wise Men.” This picture 
occupied its appropriate place till 1801, when two 
of the Vice-Presidents, John Wilmot, Esq., and 
Thomas Everett, Esq., M.P., together with Sir 
Thomas Bernard, Bart., (the Treasurer) and John 
Puget, Esq., agreed to purchase and present to 
the Hospital a picture by West, namely —Christ 
\presenting a little Child This picture had been in 
the hands of a party, by whose mismanagement it 
had suffered some injury, and therefore West, in 
his determination to make it fully acceptable to 
the Governors, almost entirely repainted it. “ The 
care” (he says) “with which I have passed that 
picture, I flatter myself has now placed it in the 
first class of pictures from my pencil; at least, I 
have the satisfaction to find that to be the sentiment 
of the judges of painting who have seen it.” 

For this act of generosity, the Governors resolved 
to elect West one of their corporate body. 

He appears to have been highly flattered by this 
compliment, and in acknowledging it, states that his 
professional duties will not permit him to become an 


* “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of 
them, 

“ And said, Yerily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become 
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me/' 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


147 


active member of the Corporation, but to shew his 
respect and good wishes for the establishment in the 
only way he could make'a return, he intended to add 
to the embellishments of the Chapel as follows: — 

“There are” (he says), “ on each side the place 
of Communion in the Chapel, opposite the Governors’ 
and Governors’ Ladies’ seats, two panels, well cal¬ 
culated to receive paintings. If the Governors will 
concur, at my leisure I propose to paint two pictures 
from sacred history to fill those panels, which I shall 
beg the Corporation to accept of, as a mark of my 
respect for the Institution, at the same time, to ask 
of them the exclusive right of having prints taken 
from those pictures.” 

It need not be added that the Governors imme¬ 
diately accepted this munificent and charitable offer, 
but it is to be lamented that the leisure of the artist 
never arrived, and that the work remains undone. 
If perchance any modern artist should read this and 
have a laudable desire to establish his fame, he can¬ 
not do better than carry out the intention of West. 

In 1816, the Chapel being then under repair, 
West had the Altar-Piece taken to his house and 
again re-touclied it, returning it to its place with 
strong expressions towards this favourite work of his 
hand. 

The Governors had been early taught by Handel, 
that their Chapel (which was built for the exclusive 
use of the children and household), was capable of 
being converted into a source of pecuniary means 


148 


MEMORANDA, 


for increasing the usefulness of the work they had in 
hand. What Handel began, other eminent musicians 
continued, and the Governors having received seve¬ 
ral blind children into the establishment (during the 
general and indiscriminate admission), they were 
instructed in music, and became a fruitful source of 
advantage to the funds of the Charity.* For nearly 
one hundred years the Chapel has been established, 
and if the taste of the public for sacred music has 
increased, and that taste has any beneficial influence 
on the minds of the people, this Chapel has been 
one of the humble instruments for effecting it. 

The expenses for supporting the Chapel are very 
considerable, and the only return is from the pew 
rents and contributions of the public at the Chapel 
doors. 


THE CATACOMBS. 

Beneath the Chapel are capacious Vaults, in 
which were deposited, in 1751, the remains of the 
Founder, at his own request; since which many of 
the Governors have also been buried here. The 
coffins, which are of lead, are enclosed in stone 
catacombs. Amongst the departed, who were dis- 


* There are those remaining of the present generation who, doubtless, 
recollect Mr. Grenville (the organist), Mr. Printer, Miss Thetford, and 
“ Jenny Freer” (the singers), all blind Foundlings , whose talents were much 
appreciated by the public; by the exercise of which, the expense bestowed 
upon these orphans in infancy and youth was returned fifty-fold into the 
coffers of the charity ! 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


149 


tinguished for their zeal in the cause of the Charity, 
within whose walls they now rest, the following may 
be specially noticed, viz. : — 

1803.— The Rev. Samuel Harper, M. A. Thirty- 
six years Chaplain and afterwards a Governor of 
the Hospital. He was also one of the Under Li¬ 
brarians of the British Museum. 

1807. — William George Sibley, Esq. Many years 
Treasurer of the Honourable East India Company. 
(Jane Amphillis t his wife, is buried in the same 
vault.) 

1808. — Anthony Van Dam , Esq. 

1810.— Thomas Everett , Esq., M. P. A most ac¬ 
tive Vice-President of the Hospital. By his per¬ 
sonal zeal he collected several thousands of pounds 
for the Charity. ( Martha , his wife, is also buried in 
the same vault.) 

1813.— Michael Heathcote, Esq. A Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. 

1818.— William Watson, Esq., F.R.S. Serjeant- 
at-Arms* Attendant on the Great Seal and the House 
of Lords. Chairman of the Sessions for Middlesex 
and Westminster. Senior Common Pleader of the 
City of London, and a Vice-President of the Hospi¬ 
tal. ( Susanna, his wife, is buried in the same vault.) 

1818.— Sir Thomas Bernard, Baronet. Eleven 
years Treasurer of the Hospital, and afterwards a 


150 


MEMORANDA, 


Vice-President.* {Lady Margaret , and Lady Char¬ 
lotte Matilda Bernard, are also buried in the same 
vault.) 

1819 . —John Owen Parr, Esq. (.Elizabeth Mary , 
his wife, is buried in the same vault.) 

1820. — William Nanson, Esq . 

1822. — John Stephenson, Esq . {Mary, his wife, 
is buried in the same vault.) 

1823. — Robert Raynsforcl, Esq. Many years one 
of the stipendiary magistrates of the metropolis, 
and an active Vice-President of the Hospital. 
(■Elizabeth , his wife, is buried in the same vault.) 

1827.-— Philip Jackson, Esq. 

1830. — John Heath, Esq.-f A justice of the peace 
for the county of Middlesex. {Jane Louisa, his 
wife, is buried in the same vault.) 

1831. — Thomas Smith, Esq. [Maria, his wife, is 
buried in the same vault.) 

1831.— Richard Smith, Esq. {Elizabeth Ann, his 
wife, is buried in the same vault.) 

* Sir Thomas did not confine his charitable labours to the Foundling 
Hospital. He was indefatigable in forming Societies for bettering the con¬ 
dition of the poor, and in promoting the views of Charitable and Literary 
persons of all classes. 

f Brother of the late Judge Heath, and father of John Benjamin Heath, 
Esq., His Sardinian Majesty’s Consul General, and Governor of the Bank 
of England for the time being. 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


151 


1832 .—The Right Honourable Lord Tenter den. A 
Vice-President. The following inscription is placed 
under a marble bust of his lordship, in the eastern 
entrance to the Chapel:— 

Prope . Situs . est 
Carolus . Baro . Tenterden 
Joannis . et . Aliciae . Abbott 
filius . natu . minor 
humillimae . sortis . parentibus 
patrc . vero . prudenti . matre . pia . ortus 
scholae . regiae . Cantuariensis 
postea . Collegii . Corporis . Christi . Oxon . alumnus 
per . annos . xx . in . causis . versatus 
primo . ad . communia . placita 
mox . ad . placita . coram . ipso . rege . tenenda 
Justiciarius 

deinde . Justiciarius . Capitalis 
gratia . demum . Georgii . IV . Regis 
in . Baronum . ordinem . cooptatus 
Quantum . apud . Britannos . honcstus . labor 
favente . deo . valeat 
agnoscas . lector. 

Haec .de.se. conscripsit 
vir . summus . idemque . omnium . modestissimus 
Vixit . annis . lxx 

decessit . die . Nov . iv . anno . sacro . mdcccxxxii 
uxorem . duxit . Mariam 

Joannis . Lagier . Lamotte . arm . filiam . natu . maximam 
quae . carissimo . marito 
dies . non . amplius . xlv . superfuit 
et . iuxta . sepulta . est 
Parentibus . optimis . desideratissimis 
liberi . moerentes 
posuerunt 



152 


MEMORANDA, 


TRANSLATION. 

Near . this . spot . lies 
Charles . Baron . Tenterden 
younger . son . of . John . and . Alice . Abbott. 

Bom . in . very . humble . station 
of . a . Father . who . was . prudent 
and . a . Mother . who . was . pious 
He . was . brought . up . in . the . Grammar . School of . Canterbury 
and . afterwards . at . Corpus . Christi . College . Oxford. 
Having . practised . as . a . Barrister . for . twenty . years 
He . became . Justice . of . the . Common . Pleas 
was . removed . to . the . King’s . Bench 
there . raised . to . be . Chief . Justice 
and . was . at . last . by . the . favour . of . King . George . IV. 
created . a . Peer . of . the . Realm. 

Learn . Reader 

how . much . in . this . Country 
may . under . the . blessing . of . God . be . attained 
by . honest . industry. 

The . above . is . the . notice . of . himself . left 
by . one . of. the . most. eminent. as . well. as . most. modest. of. men. 
He . died . aged . lxx . on . the . 4th . of . Nov. . mdcccxxxii. 
His . wife . Mary . eldest. daughter . of. John . Lagier . Lamotte . Esq. 
survived . her . beloved . husband 
only . xlv . days 

and . is . buried . by . his . side. 

This . Tablet . is . erected . to . the . memory 
of . most * excellent . and . deeply . regretted . Parents 
by . their . sorrowing . Children.* 


* Lord Tenterden, before the labours of his judicial functions engrossed 
the whole of his time, took an active part in the administration of the affairs 
of the Foundling Hospital, and wrote the following verses, to be set to 
music, and sung at the commemorative festivals of the Governors 

“ The ship sail’d smoothly o’er the sea, 

By gentle breezes farm’d, 

When Coram, musing at the helm, 

This happy fabric plami’d; 

Not in the schools by sages taught 
To woo fair virtue’s form; 

But nursed on danger’s flinty lap, 

And tutor’d by the storm. 



FOUNDLIXG HOSPITAL. 


153 


1832.— William Holden , Esq. 

1834.— William Hammond, Esq. (.Ann , his wife, 
is buried in the same vault.) 

1834.— Christopher Stanger, M.D. Thirty-seven 
years one of the Physicians to the Hospital. 

1838.-— Charles James Johnstone, M.D . The fol¬ 
lowing is the inscription upon a monument erected 
in the eastern entrance of the Chapel, to the memory 
of this promising young Physician :— 


“ When threat’ning tempests round him rag’d, 
And swelling billows heav’d, 

His bark a wretched orphan seem’d, 

Of aid and hope bereav’d. 

If through the clouds a golden gleam 
Broke sweetly from above, 

He bless’d the smiling emblem there 
Of charity and love. 

“ Around the glowing land he spread 
Warm pity’s magic spell, 

And tender bosoms learn’d from him 
With softer sighs to swell. 

Beauty and wealth, and wit and power, 

The various aid combin’d ; 

And angels smil’d upon the work 
That Coram had design’d. 

“ Virtue and meekness mark’d his face 
With characters benign, 

And Hogarth’s colours yet display 
The lineaments divine: 

Our ground his ashes sanctify, 

Our songs his praise employs ; 

His spirit with the bless’d above 
His full reward enjoys.” 


X 



154 MEMORANDA, 

Carolo Jacobo Johnstone A. et M. B. 

Coll. Cai. Gonv. Cantabr. Socio Hujus Hospitii alteri e Medicis 
quem segros assidue curantem Febri correptum mors occupavit 
ante Diem vn. Kal. April. A. S. mdcccxxxviii. iEt. xxvm : 
viro pio probo comi Modesto 
Egregie quum Medicinse Turn Literarum Scienti 
Amantissimo Suorum suis carissimo 
Hunc Lapidem amici Ejus moerentes 
C. P. P. C. 


TRANSLATION. 

To 

Charles James Johnstone, 

Bachelor of Arts and of Medicine, 

Fellow of Caius and Gonville College, Cambridge, 
One of the two Physicians of this Hospital, 
who was carried off 

by fever caught in assiduous attention to the sick, 
26th March, 1838, 

in the twenty-eighth year of his age. 

Pious, upright, amiable, unassuming; 

eminently skilful as a Physician, 
and no less distinguished as a Scholar; 
most affectionate himself, 
and most affectionately beloved. 

This Tablet is erected by 
His sorrowing friends. 


1839.— Arthur Browne Blakiston , Esq . 

1839.— Samuel Compton Cox , Esq. Thirty-three 
years Treasurer of the Hospital, and formerly one of 
the Masters of the High Court of Chancery. A 
monument has been erected, by the Governors, in 
the eastern entrance to the Chapel, to the memory 
of this excellent man, “ in gratitude for his Christian 
care of the objects of this Charity(Anna* his wife, 
lies by his side in the same catacomb.) 


* Daughter of the celebrated Percival Pott, Esq.— Vide Nichols' Literary 
Anecdotes . 






FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


155 


1839.— Sir Stephen Gaselee, Knight . One of the 
Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and a Vice- 
President of the Hospital. {Lady Gaselee is also 
buried in the same vault, together with Henrietta 
and Emma, their children.) 

1839. — Hugh Edwards, Esq . 

1840. — Anthony VD. Searle Van Dam, Esq. 

1842.— Peregrine Dealtry, Esq. Master of the 
Crown Office. 

1844.— The Rev. John Hewlett, B.D. The fol¬ 
lowing is the inscription on a very chaste mural 
monument, by Sievier, placed in the western entrance 
of the Chapel, in honour of this eminent Divine :— 

In Memory of 

The Reverend John Hewlett, B.D. 
during xxix Years Morning Preacher of this Hospital. 

In style, he was forcible and clear; 
in manner, grave and impressive; 

Earnest in Exhortation 
and sound in Doctrine; 
his mind was richly stored 
with ancient and modern Literature, 
and his writings afford ample proofs 
of scientific and theological attainments : 
as a public reward for his Biblical labours, 

The Earl of Liverpool, first Minister of the Crown, 
presented him, in mdcccxix, 
to the Rectory of Hilgay in Norfolk: 

He discharged his various duties 
throughout a long and useful life 
with ability, diligence, and zeal, 
attaching to himself in no ordinary degree 
all with whom he was connected, 
and died in Christian Faith and Hope 
April 12th, mdcccxliv, aged lxxxvi. 


156 


MEMO K A X DA, 


ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 

In July, 1774, Dr. Burney and Mr. Giardini, 
attended the Court of Governors, and proposed a 
plan for forming a public music school by means of the 
children of the Hospital, which, having been taken 
into consideration, was unanimously accepted as 
“ likely to be of considerable advantage to this Cor¬ 
poration and of national utility.” 

The Court immediately set about opening a sub¬ 
scription roll (which received the support of the 
Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland), and appoint¬ 
ed a special Committee to “ digest and form Ihe 
properest method for carrying the said plan into 
execution,” the Committee to consist of all the mem¬ 
bers of the Court present, and the Duke of Portland, 
the Earl of Ashburnham, the Earl of Dartmouth, 
Lord Le Despencer and Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, 
Bart. 

But it was the fate of this scheme to be nipt in the 
bud. Its opponents proposed and carried a resolu¬ 
tion at the next Court, which completely set it aside. 
The resolution was this—“ It appeared to this Court 
that the plan of a public music school by way of 
employment of the children, is not warranted by the 
Act of Parliament.” 

Madame D’Arblay* in her Memoirs of Dr. Burney 
(her father), gives the following graphical account of 
this transaction : — 


The celebrated Miss Burney, author of “ Evelina," &c. 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


157 


‘ 4 But neither the pain of his illness, nor the plea¬ 
sure of his recovery, nor even the loved labours of 
his history, offered sufficient occupation for the insa¬ 
tiate activity of his mind. No sooner did he breathe 
again the breath of health, resume his daily business, 
and return to his nocturnal studies, than a project 
occurred to him of a new undertaking, which would 
have seemed to demand the whole time and undi¬ 
vided attention of almost any other man. 

“ This was nothing less than to establish, in Eng¬ 
land, a seminary for the education of musical pupils 
of both sexes, upon a plan of which the idea should 
be*borrowed, though the execution should almost 
wholly be new modelled, from the Conservatorios of 
Naples and Vienna. 

“ As disappointment blighted this scheme, just as 
it seemed maturing to fruition, it would be to little 
purpose to enter minutely into its details ; and yet, 
as it is a striking feature of the fervour of Dr. Bur¬ 
ney for the advancement of his art, it is not its 
failure, through the secret workings of undermining 
prejudice, that ought to induce his biographer to 
omit recounting so interesting an intention and at¬ 
tempt ; and the less, as a plan, in many respects 
similar, has recently been put into execution, without 
any reference to the original projector. 

“ The motives that suggested this undertaking to 
Dr. Burney, with the reasons by which they were 
influenced and supported, were to this effect— 

“ In England, where more splendid rewards await 
the favourite votaries of musical excellence than in 


158 


MEMORANDA, 


any other spot on the globe, there was no establish¬ 
ment of any sort for forming such artists as might 
satisfy the real connoisseur in music ; and save Eng¬ 
lish talent from the mortification, and the British 
purse from the depredations of seeking a constant 
annual supply of genius and merit from foreign 
shores. 

“ An institution, therefore, of this character, 
seemed wanting to the state for national economy, 
and to the people for national encouragement. 

“ Such was the enlarged view which Dr. Burney, 
while yet in Italy, had taken of such a plan for his 
own country. 

“ The difficulty of collecting proper subjects to 
form its members, caused great diversity of opinion 
and of proposition amongst the advisers with whom 
Dr. Burney consulted. 

“ It was peculiarly necessary that these young 
disciples should be free from every sort of contami¬ 
nation, mental or corporal, upon entering this musical 
asylum, that they might spread no dangerous conta¬ 
gion of either sort, but be brought up to the practice 
of the art, with all its delightful powers of pleasing, 
chastened from their abuse. 

“ With such a perspective, to take promiscuously 
the children of the poor, merely where they had an 
ear for music, or a voice for song, would be running 
the risk of gathering together a mixed little multi¬ 
tude, which, from intermingling inherent vulgarity, 
hereditary diseases, or vicious propensities, with the 
finer qualities requisite for admission, might render 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


159 


the cultivation of their youthful talents a danger, 
if not a curse, to the country. 

“ Yet, the length of time that might be required 
for selecting little subjects of this unadulterated 
description from different quarters, with the next to 
impossibility of tracing, with any certainty, what 
might have been their real conduct in times past, or 
what might be their principles to give any basis of 
security for the time to come, caused a perplexity of 
the most serious species ; for should a single one of 
the tribe go astray, the popular cry against teaching 
the arts to the poor would stamp the whole little 
community with a stain indelible, and the institution 
itself might be branded with infamy. 

“ What abstractedly was desirable, was, to try 
this experiment upon youthful beings to whom the 
world was utterly unknown, and who, not only in 
innocence had breathed their infantine lives, but in 
complete and unsuspicious ignorance of evil. 

“ Requisites so hard to obtain, and a dilemma so 
intricate to unravel, led the Doctor to think of the 
Foundling Hospital , in the neighbourhood of which, 
in Queen Square, stood his present dwelling. 

<f He communicated, therefore, his project to Sir 
Charles Whitworth, the Governor of the Hospital. 
Sir Charles thought it proper, feasible, desirable, 
and patriotic. 

“ The Doctor, thus seconded, drew up a plan for 
forming a musical conservatorio in the metropolis of 
England, and in the bosom of the Foundling Hospital. 

“ The intention was to collect from the whole little 


160 


MEMORANDA, 


corps all who had musical ears or tuneful voices, to 
be brought up scientifically as instrumental or vocal 
performers. Those of the group who gave no de¬ 
cided promise of such qualifications, were to go on 
with their ordinary education, and to abide by its 
ordinary result, according to the original regulations 
of the charity. 

“ A meeting of the Governors and Directors was 
convened by their chief. Sir Charles Whitworth, for 
announcing this scheme. The plan was heard with 
general approbation, but the discussions to which it 
gave rise were discursive and perplexing. 

“ It was objected, that music was an art of luxury, 
by no means requisite to life, or accessary to mo¬ 
rality. These children were all meant to be edu¬ 
cated as plain but essential members of the general 
community. They were to be trained up to useful 
purposes, with a singleness that would ward off all 
ambition for what was higher, and teach them to 
repay the benefit of their support by cheerful labour. 
To stimulate them to superior views might mar the 
religious object of the charity, which was to nullify, 
rather than extinguish, all disposition to pride, vice, 
or voluptuousness, such as, probably, had demo¬ 
ralized their culpable parents, and thrown these 
deserted outcasts upon the mercy of the Foundling 
Hospital . 

“ This representation, the Doctor acknowledged, 
would be unanswerable, if it were decided to be 
right, and if it were judged to be possible, wholly to 
extirpate the art of music in the British empire, or, 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


161 


if the Foundling Hospital were to be considered as 
a seminary, predestined tp menial servitude, and as 
the only institution of the country where the mem¬ 
bers were to form a caste, from whose rules and 
plodden ways no genius could ever emerge. 

“ But such a fiat could never be issued by John 
Bull, nor so flat a stamp be struck upon any portion 
of his countrymen. John Bull was at once too 
liberal and too proud to seek to adopt the tame ordi¬ 
nances of the immutable Hindoos, with whom ages 
passed unmarked, generations unchanged, the poor 
never richer, the simple never wiser, and with whom, 
family by family, and trade by trade, begin, con¬ 
tinue, and terminate their monotonous existence by 
the same predetermined course, and to the same 
invariable destiny. 

“ These children, the Doctor answered, are all 
orphans ; they are taken from no family, for by none 
are they owned: they are drawn from no calling, 
for to none are they specifically bred. They are all 
brought up to menial offices, though they are all 
instructed in reading and writing, and the females in 
needle-work; but they are all, systematically and 
indiscriminately, destined to be servants or appren¬ 
tices at the age of fifteen; from which period, all 
their hold upon the benevolent institution to which 
they are indebted for their infantine rescue from 
perishing cold and starving want, with their subse¬ 
quent maintenance and tuition, is rotatorily trans¬ 
ferred to new-born claimants; for the Hospital then 
has fulfilled its engagements, and the children must 


162 


MEMORANDA, 


o-o forth to the world, whether to their benefit or 
their disgrace. 

“ Were it not better, then, when there are subjects 
who are success-inviting, to bestow upon them 
professional improvement, with virtuous education? 
since, as long as operas, concerts, and theatres are 
licensed by government, musical performers, vocal 
and instrumental, will inevitably be wanted, em¬ 
ployed, and remunerated : and every state is surely 
best served, and the people of every country are 
surely the most encouraged, when the nation suffices 
for itself, and no foreign aid is necessarily called in, 
to share either the fame or the emoluments of public 
performances. 

“ Stop, then ; prohibit, proscribe—if it be possible 
—all taste for foreign refinements, and for the exqui¬ 
site finishing of foreign melody and harmony, or 
establish a school on our own soil, in which, as in 
painting and in sculpture, the foreign perfection of 
arts may be taught, transplanted, and culled, till 
they become indigenous. 

“ And where, if not here, may subjects be found 
on whom such a national trial may be made with the 
least danger of injury? Subjects who have been 
brought up with a strictness of regular habits that 
has warded them from all previous mischief, yet who 
are too helpless and ignorant, as well as poor, to be 
able to develop whether or not nature, in her secret 
workings, has kindled within their unconscious bo¬ 
soms a spark—a single spark of harmonic fire, that 
might light them from being hewers of wood and 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


163 


brushers of spiders, to those regions of vocal and 
instrumental excellence, that might propitiate the 
project of drawing from our own culture a school for 
music, of which the students, under proper moral 
and religious tutelage, might, in time, supersede the 
foreign auxiliaries by whom they are now utterly 
extinguished. 

“ The objectors were charged, also, to weigh well 
that there was no law or regulation, and no means 
whatsoever that could prevent any of this little asso¬ 
ciation from becoming singers and players, if they 
had musical powers, and such should be their wish; 
though, if self-thrown into that walk, singers and 
players only at the lowest theatres, or at the tea 
and public gardens, or even in the streets, as fiddlers 
of country dances, or as ballad squallers, in which 
degraded exercise of their untaught endowments, 
not only decent life must necessarily be abandoned, 
but immorality, licentiousness, and riot, must assi¬ 
milate with, or rather form a prominent part of their 
exhibitions and performances. 

“ Here the discussion closed. The opponents 
were silenced, if not convinced, and the trial of the 
project was decreed. The hardly-fought battle over, 
victory, waving her gay banners, that wafted to the 
Doctor hopes of future renown with present bene¬ 
diction, determined him, for the moment, to relin¬ 
quish even his history, that he might devote every 
voluntary thought to consolidating this scheme. 

“ The primary object of his consideration, because 
the most conscientious, was the preservation of the 


1G4 


MEMORANDA, 


morals and fair conduct of the pupils. And here, 
the exemplary character and the purity of the prin¬ 
ciples of Dr. Burney, would have shone forth to 
national advantage, had the expected prosperity of 
his design brought his meditated regulations into 
practice. 

“ Vain would it be to attempt, and useless, if not 
vain, to describe his indignant consternation, when, 
while in the full occupation of these arrangements, a 
letter arrived to him from Sir Charles Whitworth, to 
make known, with great regret, that the under¬ 
taking was suddenly overthrown. The enemies to 
the attempt, who had seemed quashed, had merely 
lurked in ambush, to watch for an unsuspected mo¬ 
ment to convene a partial committee, in which they 
voted out the scheme as an innovation upon the ori¬ 
ginal purpose of the institution ; and pleading, also, 
an old act of Parliament against its adoption, they 
solemnly proscribed it for ever.* 

“Yet a repeal of that act had been fully intended, 
before the plan, which, hitherto, had only been 
agitating and negotiating, should have been put into 
execution. 

“ All of choice, however, and all of respect that 


* This apparent want of liberality on the part of the Governors, in the 
mental culture of the children, reminds one of a darker period of the history 
of this small community. Dr. Johnson writes, in 1756:—“When, a few 
months ago, I wandered through the Hospital, I found not a child that 
seemed to have heard of his creed or the commandments. To breed up 
children in this manner, is to rescue them from an early grave, that they 
may find employment for the gibbet: from dying in innocence, that they 
may perish by their crimes.” 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


105 


lemained for Dr. Burney, consisted in a personal 
ofter from Sir Charles Whitworth, to re-assemble an 
opposing meeting amongst those friends who, pre¬ 
viously, had carried the day. 

“ But happy as the Doctor would have been to 
have gained, with the honour of general approbation, 
a point he had elaborately studied to clear from mys- 
tifying objections, and to render desirable even to 
patriotism, his pride was justly hurt by so abrupt a 
defalcation; and he would neither with open hos¬ 
tility, nor under any versatile contest, become the 
founder or chief of so important an enterprise. 

“ He gave up, therefore, the attempt, without 
further struggle; simply recommending to the ma¬ 
ture reflections of the members of the last Com¬ 
mittee, whether it were not more pious, as well as 
more rational, to endeavour to ameliorate the cha¬ 
racter and lives of practical musical noviciates, than 
to behold the nation, in its highest classes, cherish 
the art, follow it, embellish it with riches, and make 
it fashion and pleasure, while, to train to that art, 
with whatever precautions, its appropriate votaries 
from the bosom of our own country, seemed to call 
for opposition, and to deserve condemnation. 

“Thus died, in its birth, this interesting project, 
which, but for this brief sketch, might never have 
been known to have brightened the mind, as one of 
the projects, or to have mortified it, as one of the 
failures, of the active and useful life of Dr. Burney.” 



106 


MEMORANDA, 


ADMISSION OF CHILDREN. 

The first admission of Children took place in 1741, 
under the following advertisement : — 

“ To-morrow, at eight o’clock in the evening, this 
house will be opened for the reception of twenty 
children, under the following regulations : — 

“ No child exceeding the age of two months will 
be taken in, nor such as have the evil, leprosy, or 
disease of the like nature, whereby the health of the 
other children may be endangered ; for the discovery 
whereof, every child is to be inspected as soon as it 
is brought, and the person who brings it is to come 
in at the outward door and ring a bell at the inward 
door, and not to go away until the child is returned 
or notice given of its reception ; but no questions 
whatever will be asked of any person who brings a 
child, nor shall any servant of the house presume to 
endeavour to discover who such person is, on pain of 
being discharged. 

“ All persons who bring children are requested to 
affix on each child some particular writing, or other 
distinguishing mark or token, so that the children 
may be known hereafter if necessary.” 

These receptions of children took place occa¬ 
sionally in the same manner, and were necessarily 
regulated by the funds of the Hospital, which being 
derived from private subscriptions and legacies of 
benevolent individuals only, were of course limited. 

As the Hospital became more generally known, it 
will readily be supposed that the applications for 


FOUND LI N.G HOSPITAL. 


167 


admission greatly increased, so that there were fre¬ 
quently one hundred wonien at the door when twenty 
children only could be received. This gave rise to 
the disgraceful scene of women scrambling and fight¬ 
ing to get to the door, that they might be of the for¬ 
tunate few to reap the benefit of the Asylum. 

To obviate this evil a new method was adopted, 
by which all women bringing children were admitted 
into the court-room, and there sat on benches, with 
strict orders not to stir from their seats. Then, as 
many white balls as there were children to be taken 
in, with five red balls for every twenty children to 
be received, and so in proportion for any greater or 
less number; and as many black balls, as with the 
white and red, were equal to the number of women 
present, were put into a bag or box, which was 
handed round to the women; each woman who 
drew a white ball was sent, with her child, to the 
inspecting-room, that it might undergo the usual 
examination. Every woman who drew a black ball 
was immediately turned out of the house with her 
infant; and every woman who drew a red ball was 
taken, with her child, into another room, there to 
remain until the examination of the children for 
whom white balls were drawn was ended, and if, on 
such examination, any of those children were re¬ 
jected, for reasons stated in the public notice, ballots 
were taken, after a similar manner, for filling up the 
vacancies, till the whole number was completed. 
This plan, it is true, prevented the disgraceful scenes 
described ; but a charity so unguardedly dispensed. 


168 


MEMORANDA 


as to the selection of its objects, could not but open 
the door to fraud and abuse of the worst description. 
We know that no human institution, however cau¬ 
tiously managed, can be wholly free from abuse ; 
some daring Clodius will always be found to pollute 
the mysteries, let the house be ever so carefully 
watched. If this be true in ordinary cases, surely it 
must have required more than common caution in 
setting on foot an asylum, the opening of which, 
if not carefully effected, would let loose as many 
evils as ever issued from Pandoras box. Ihis was 
evidently felt by Captain Coram himself, who, in 
the memorial which he presented to George the 
Second, as a recommendation of his design, throws 
out the cautionary suggestion,—that its success could 
only be insured, “provided due and proper care be 
taken for setting on foot so necessary an establishment 
He no sooner found, therefore, that the managers 
were acting upon a principle which furnished no 
guarantee for the effectual operation of the charity, 
namely—receiving children without establishing any 
test by which the merits of each case could be ascer¬ 
tained, than he opposed their proceedings; but after 
repeated admonition, finding his advice disregarded by 
the majority of the Committee, he left the manage¬ 
ment of the institution altogether in their hands.* 


* Of the particular cause of disagreement between Captain Coram and 
the managing Committee there is no record. The following extract from 
the will of Anthony Allen, Esq., dated 1753, shows, however, that the 
Founder was supported in his objections to their proceedings by one, at 
least, of his friends :— 

“ And whereas, many years before the obtaining the royal charter for the 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


1(59 

The system above referred to continued for a 
period of fifteen years,-viz.—from 1741 to 1756, 
during which, 1384 children were received, or, upon 
an average, ninety-two annually. 

The managers, however, looked forward all along 
to the time when they should be able to open their 
Hospital upon the most unrestricted plan, and many 
were the abortive schemes suggested for the acquire¬ 
ment of wealth to enable them to do so; but it was 
obvious, that no power or means, except Parlia¬ 
mentary, could be devised for effectually meeting the 
object. To Parliament, therefore, the Governors 
appealed, having previously ascertained that George 
the Second had a good feeling towards their design. 
The following resolutions of the House of Commons, 
of the 6th April, 1756, sufficiently prove the success 
with which the application was attended : — 

“ That the enabling the Hospital for the mainte¬ 
nance and education of exposed and deserted young 
children to receive all the children that shall be 


Hospital for exposed and deserted young children, I did, at the instance of 
that indefatigable schenjist, Captain Thomas Coram, really intend some 
considerable benefaction towards carrying on so good a project, and did 
encourage the concurrence of other liberal benefactors, till some of the 
acting Governors and Guardians of the said Hospital went counter to our 
j udgments and proposal pressed upon them by the said Coram, on several 
occasions, which made me withhold my hand, saving the sum of sixteen 
guineas I advanced as necessity urged, from time to time, towards the im¬ 
mediate subsistence of the said Mr. Coram, who had exhausted his whole 
substance in soliciting that charter during about seventeen years, never 
meeting any relief from the said Hospital, I now will that £200, besides the 
said £16 16s. so paid, be given to the use of the said Hospital, within two 
years after my decease, in lieu of all claims and pretensions the said Hos¬ 
pital may make on that score.” 


Z 



170 


MEMORANDA, 


offered, is the only method to render that charitable 
institution oflasting and general utility. 

“ That to render the said Hospital of lasting and 
general utility, the assistance of Parliament is neces¬ 
sary. 

“ That to render the said Hospital of general 
utility and effect, it should be enabled to appoint 
proper places in all counties, ridings, or divisions of 
this kingdom, for the reception of all exposed and 
deserted young children.” 

Added to these resolutions, a guarantee was given 
by Parliament that it would provide the means, 
by liberal grants of money, to enable the Governors 
to carry out this extensive scheme of charity. 

A basket was accordingly hung outside of the 
gates of the Hospital, and an advertisement publicly 
announced, that all children under the age of two 
months, tendered for admission, would be received. 

In pursuance of which, on the 2nd June, 1756, 
being the first day of general reception, 117 children 
were given up to the fostering care of the state! 

Though the Governors of the charity, in antici. 
pation of parochial interference, had armed them¬ 
selves with the special power of the law for their 
protection, yet they discovered that no authority, 
however great, could prevent parish officers from 
emptying their workhouses of the infant poor, and 
transferring them to this general sanctuary provided 
by government. Had they stopped here, the mo¬ 
rality of their conduct would not, perhaps, have been 
questioned ; but it was the frequent practice of these 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


171 


daring authorities, sometimes in conjunction with the 
brutal father, to rob the poor mother of her new¬ 
born infant, whilst she was in a state of helplessness 
from the effects of her recent confinement, and to 
convey it to the Hospital, that they might be rid 
of the burden of maintaining it. The scenes which 
daily occurred at the asylum from this circumstance, 
would have moved the stoutest heart. 

The managers did all they could to prevent this 
infamous practice, by prosecuting the delinquents, 
but the motive was too strong to be put down; it 
continued in spite of their efforts. 

When a Foundling Hospital was established in 
Paris, in the year 1640, its objects were limited to 
the children found exposed in that city, and its 
suburbs; and it was understood by those who fur¬ 
thered a similar design in this country, that its opera¬ 
tion would, in the same manner, be confined to Lon¬ 
don and its environs. But benefits so tempting be¬ 
ing irresistable to persons in country towns, they 
were determined to share with the good people of 
London, a privilege which they considered common 
to all. “ There is set up in our Corporation ” (writes 
a correspondent from a town three hundred miles 
distant, in one of the chronicles of the day), “ a new 
and uncommon trade, namely, the conveying children 
to the Foundling Hospital. The person employed 
in this trade is a woman of notoriously bad charac¬ 
ter. She undertakes the carrying of these children 
at so much per head. She has, I am told, made one 
trip already; and is now set upon her journey with 


172 


MEMORANDA, 


two of her daughters, each with a child on her back/' 
The writer then very properly suggests, that it ought 
to be ascertained “whether or not these poor infants 
do really arrive at their destination, or what becomes 
of them.” That such an inquiry was necessary, 
there is no doubt;—the sequel will prove it. 

At Monmouth, a person was tried for the murder 
of his child, which was found drowned with a stone 
about its neck! when the prisoner proved that he 
delivered it to a travelling tinker, who received a 
guinea from him to carry it to the Hospital. Nay, 
it was publicly asserted in the House of Commons, 
that one man who had the charge of five infants in 
baskets, happened in his journey to get intoxicated, 
and lay all night asleep on a common ; and in the 
morning he found three of the five children he had 
in charge actually dead ! Also, that of eight infants 
brought out of the country at one time in a waggon, 
seven died before it reached London : the surviving 
child owing its life to the solicitude of its mother ; 
who rather than commit it alone to the carrier, fol¬ 
lowed the waggon on foot, occasionally affording her 
infant the nourishment it required. 

It was further stated, that a man on horseback, 
going to London with luggage in two panniers, was 
overtaken at Highgate, and being asked what he had 
in his panniers, answered, “ I have two children in 
each : I brought them from Yorkshire for the Found¬ 
ling Hospital, and used to have eight guineas a trip; 
but lately another man has set up against me, which 
has lowered my price*” 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


173 


This practice of transporting children from remote 
towns was condemned by a distinct resolution of the 
House of Commons, and a Bill was ordered to be 
brought in to prevent it; but this Bill was never 
presented, so that parish officers and others still 
continued to carry on their illicit trade, by delivering 
children to vagrants, who, for a small sum of money, 
undertook the task of conveying them to the Hospital, 
although they were in no condition to take care of 
them, whereby numbers perished for want, or were 
otherwise destroyed; and even in cases where chil¬ 
dren were really left at the Hospital, the barbarous 
wretches who had the conveying of them, not con¬ 
tent with the gratuity they received, stript the poor 
infants of their clothing into the bargain, leaving 
them naked in the basket at the Hospital gate.* 

A system so void of all order and discretion, must 
necessarily have occasioned many difficulties: for 
instance, it frequently happened, that persons who 
sent their children to the Hospital, having nothing to 
prove their reception, were suspected, or, if not sus¬ 
pected, were charged by their malevolent neighbours 
with destroying them, and were consequently cited 
before a magistrate of the district to shew to the 
contrary. This they could only do by procuring 
an examination of the Hospital registers; and the 


* The following is a strong instance of the vicissitudes of life A few 
years since, an aged Banker in the north of England, received into the Hos¬ 
pital at the above period, was desirous of becoming acquainted with his 
origin, when, all the information afforded by the books of the establishment 
was, that he was put into the basket at the gate naked. 




174 


MEMORANDA 


Governors were frequently called upon for certificates 
of the fact, before the party could be released. This 
inconvenience was, however, afterwards obviated, by 
the practice of giving a billet to each person who 
brought a child, acknowledging its reception. 

But the difficulty which presented itself paramount 
to all others, related to the manner in which so great 
a number of children was to be reared. In the first 
year of this indiscriminate admission, the number 
received was 3,296; in the second year, 4,085 ; in 
the third, 4,229; and during less than ten months 
of the fourth year (after which the system of indis¬ 
criminate reception was abolished), 3,324. Thus, 
in this short period, no less than 14,934 infants were 
cast on the compassionate protection of the public! 
It necessarily became a question how the lives of 
this army of infants could be best preserved ; and 
the Governors, not being able to settle this point 
among themselves, addressed certain queries to the 
College of Physicians, which were promptly an¬ 
swered, by recommending a course of treatment 
consonant to nature and common sense! Children, 
deprived as these were of their natural aliment, re¬ 
quired more than usual watchfulness ; and although, 
on a small scale, the providing a given number of 
healthy wet-nurses, as substitutes for the mothers of 
infants, would have been an easy task, yet, when 
they arrived in numbers so considerable, the Gover¬ 
nors found that the object they had in view must 
necessarily fail from its very magnitude. 

It has been truly said, that the frail tenure by 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


175 


which an infant holds its life, will not allow of a 
remitted attention even for a few r hours : who, there¬ 
fore, will be surprised, after hearing under what 
circumstances most of these poor children were left 
at the Hospital gate, that, instead of being a pro¬ 
tection to the living, the institution became, as it 
were, a charnel-house for the dead! It is a noto¬ 
rious fact, that many of the infants received at the 
gate, did not live to be carried into the wards of the 
building; and from the impossibility of procuring a 
sufficient number of proper nurses, the emaciated 
and diseased state in which many of these children 
were brought to the Hospital, and the malconduct of 
some of those to whose care they were committed 
(notwithstanding these nurses were under the super¬ 
intendence of certain ladies—sisters of charity), the 
deaths amongst them were so frequent, that of the 
14,934 received, only 4,400 lived to be apprenticed 
out, being a mortality of more than seventy per 
cent ! * Thus was the institution (conducted on a 
plan so wild and chimerical, and so widely differing 


* These details are appalling enough; but the account given of the 
Dublin Foundling Hospital, at a later period, greatly surpasses them “ Of 
12,641 children received in six years, ending the 24th of June, 1796, so 
many as 9,804 had died; 2,692 were unaccounted for, and only 145 were to 
be traced. In the infirmary the mortality had been still more shocking. Of 
5,216 children sent into the infirmary in those six years, three individuals 
only came out of the walls alive. These facts were ascertained on the oaths 
of the culprits themselves, and were occasioned partly by gross negligence, 
and partly by the radical defect of the system of a general admission of this 
nature, which has a direct and uncontrollable tendency to encourage the 
vice, and increase the mortality of our species .”—Life of Sir Thomas Ber¬ 
nard, Bart., by Rev. James Baker. 



176 


MEMORANDA, 


from its original design), found to be diseased in its 
very vitals. The avowed object of saving life was 
frustrated by a variety of contingent circumstances ; 
and the permanent and two-fold benefit of which it 
was intended to have been the instrument, under the 
regulations contemplated by the Founder, was set 
aside by a system of fraud and abuse, which entailed 
on the public an immense annual expenditure,* 
without even one good result. To establish a mar¬ 
ket for vice to carry on her profligate trade without 
let or hindrance ; to arrest the first step towards re¬ 
pentance of one yet in the infancy of crime, by 
pointing out the way in which she might perpetuate 
her guilt with impunity ; to break the beautiful 
chain of the affections which characterizes mankind 
as social beings, by giving a general license to pa¬ 
rents to desert their offspring, upon the barbarous 
plea that they cannot easily maintain them ; to wink 
as it were, at fraud, by showing how designing per¬ 
sons might dispose of children entrusted to their 
guardianship, and prevent a discovery of their guilty 
acts : these were some of the evils which were re- 


* The total expense was about £500,000! Several propositions were 
made, ridding the country of the burthen, and amongst them the fol¬ 
lowing “ His Majesty having recommended the case of the Foundling Hos¬ 
pital to the House of Commons, which cheerfully granted £40,000 for the 
support of that charity, the growing annual expense of it appeared worthy 
of further consideration, and leave was granted to bring in a bill for obliging 
all the parishes of England and Wales to keep registers of all their deaths, 
births, and marriages, that from these a fund might be raised towards the 
support of the said Hospital. The bill was accordingly prepared by a com¬ 
mittee appointed for the purpose, but before the House could take the report 
into consideration, the Parliament was prorogued.”— Smollett. 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


177 


alized in the early proceedings of the Governors, for 
want of attention to the cautionary suggestion of the 
Founder, to “ take due and proper care in setting on 
foot so necessary an establishment.” 

But the state of things described could not pos¬ 
sibly last long, except in a community lost to all 
decency and order. No sooner, therefore, did those 
who had promoted a system fraught with so much 
mischief, discover the error they had committed, 
than they wished to retrace their steps : —the moral¬ 
ist enlisted his pen in a cause which he found was 
endangered by its continuance ; and mercy stepped 
forward to arrest the destroying hand of death, to 
whose vengeance so many infants had been doomed, 
under the sanction of this unwise administration 
of the charity : and at length, Parliament, which 
by its inadvertence had promoted the evil, annulled 
its sanction thereto, by declaring— That the indiscri¬ 
minate admission Gf all children under a certain age 
into the Hospital , had been attended with many evil con - 
sequences , and that it be discontinued . 

After the House of Commons had passed the reso¬ 
lution which annulled the practice of receiving chil¬ 
dren in such an unguarded and indiscriminate manner, 
the Governors were left to adopt what they con¬ 
ceived to be the views of the Founder, and to place 
the institution upon that basis of prudential charity 
on which it now stands. 

Tokens.— It will be seen, that one of the regula¬ 
tions at the outset was, that persons leaving children 
2 A 


178 


MEMORANDA, 


should “affix on them some particular writing, or 
other distinguishing mark or token.” Forty years 
ago, the Governors being curiously inclined, ap¬ 
pointed a committee to inspect these tokens, with 
the view of ascertaining their general nature, which 
committee, having examined a portion of them, re¬ 
ported the following to be specimens of the whole : 
viz.— 

A half-crown, of the reign of Queen Anne, with 
hair. 

An old silk purse. 

A silver fourpence and an ivory fish. 

A stone cross, set in silver. 

A shilling, of the reign of James the Second. 

A silver fourpence of William and Mary, and a 
silver penny of King James. 

A silver fourpence. 

A small gold locket. 

A silver coin (foreign), of sixpence value. 

In 1757, a lottery ticket was given in with a child, 
but whether it turned up a prize or a blank is not 
recorded. 

The following lines were pinned to the clothes of 
one of the deserted infants :— 

“ Go, gentle babe, thy future life be spent 
In virtuous purity and calm content; 

Life’s sunshine bless thee, and no anxious care 
Sit on thy brow, and draw the falling tear; 

Thy country’s grateful servant may’st thou prove. 

And all thy life be happiness and love.” 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


179 


Another child, received on the first day of admis¬ 
sion, had the following.doggrel lines affixed to its 
clothes:— 

“ Pray use me well, and you shall find 
My father will not prove unkind 
Unto that nurse who’s my protector. 

Because he is a benefactor.” 

At this period, the station in life of the parties 
availing themselves of the charity, could only be 
surmised by the quality of the garments in which the 
children were dressed, the particulars of which were 
faithfully recorded ; the following being a sample, 
viz.— 

“ 1741.—A male child, about two months old, 
with white dimity sleeves, lined with white, and 
tied with red ribbon.” 

“ A female child, aged about six weeks, with a 
blue figured ribbon, and purple and white printed 
linen sleeves, turned up with red and white.” 

“ A male child, about a fortnight old, very neatly 
dressed ; a fine holland cap, with a cambric border, 
white corded dimity sleeves, the shirt ruffled with 
cambric.” 

“ A male child, a week old ; a holland cap, with 
a plain border, edged biggin and forehead-cloth, 
diaper bib, striped and flowered dimity mantle, and 
another holland one ; India dimity sleeves, turned 
up with stitched holland, damask waistcoat, holland 
ruffled shirt.” * 


The compiler hopes to be pardoned for introducing here a nursery 




180 


MEMORANDA, 


Sometimes the recording clerk was rather laconic 


scene, from a little work published by him some years ago, illustrative ol 
this portion of our history:— 

“ The infant having been examined, and deemed admissible, was for¬ 
warded to the charge of the nurses, in the long room, up stairs ; a particular 
account being first taken of each article of clothing, token, or writing left 
with it. 

“ ‘ I ’faith, here’s a bonny babe,’ said nurse Simkins, as she received it 
from one of the women below ; ‘ and well bedizened too,’ continued she ; 
* what with its laced cap and Indie frock, and the like.’ 

‘ Ay, ay,’ cried the shrill voice of nurse Thompson, ‘ folk don’t come here 
veiled for nothing/ 

‘Hush!’ replied the cautious Simkins; ‘don’t you know it’s against 
orders to look at the women folk who bring their children ? ’ 

‘Never mind, never mind,’ said nurse Thompson, ‘they can’t hang a 
body for peeping.’ 

‘ No, nor for speaking neither,’ whispered nurse Dormouse. 

‘ Gimini! ’ exclaimed nurse Simkins, as she examined the infant; ‘ of all 
the things in the world, here’s a picture round the neck of the babe !’ 

“ Upon this exclamation the worthies of the nursery congregated about 
nurse Simkins and the infant. 

‘ I’ll bet my Sunday cap,’ said nurse Thompson, ‘ there’s been foul play 
with this pretty babe : look at the fair face of the lady in the picture, and 
swear, if ye can, she’s not its mother.’ 

‘ Ay—you’re right,’ whispered nurse Dormouse. 

‘Well, well,’ cried old nurse Mathews, for the first time opening her 
mouth, ‘ good looks buy nothing in the market, as the saying is : things are 
strangely altered since I was a young woman. What would the girls in my 
day have given for such opportunities of getting rid of their bairns ? There 
was poor Nancy Martin for instance, who was with bairn by that young 
rogue, Tom Hodges, the sexton’s son, who said he would wed her, and all 
that, and then went over the seas, never to return. Well, as I was a saying, 
the parish folk made her to stand in the church for three Sundays, in a 
white sheet, to do penance as they calls it. One thing is certain—they 
broke her heart, and so she died. Well, well, crosses are but ladders that 
do lead up to heaven, as the saying is.’ 

‘ Between ourselves,’ said nurse Dormouse, venturing to raise her voice 
one note above a whisper, ‘ I think the wise ones here are marvellously 
gull’d: what is to prevent King George himself from sending his base-born ?’ 

‘ Ay, ay—very true, very true,’ cried the nursery coterie with unanimous 
voice, winking at each other to mark the sagacity of the observation. 







FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


181 


and quaint in his descriptions: for instance, of one 
of the children he says, it had 

“ A paper on the breast— 

Clout over the head.” 

There is so great a misapprehension* in the public 
mind regarding the present objects and purposes of 
the Foundling Hospital, that it is necessary to enter 


‘ I say nothing/ cried nurse Mathews ; ‘ but if all fools wore white caps, 
we should look very like a flock of geese, though, for all that.’ 

“ This piece of wit drew from the gossips a hearty laugh, which, however, 
was suddenly stopped by a cry of ‘ hark ! ’ from the cautious nurse Simkins ; 
‘ ’tis the matron’s step,’ said she ; and with one accord they dispersed about 
the room, and were as busy in their vocation as ever—in the performance of 
which the reader, perhaps, has no desire again to disturb them.”— Hans 
Sloane, a Tale. 

* This misapprehension is perpetuated, no doubt, by the Governors 
retaining a title to their Hospital not strictly warranted by its present 
objects or practice; and it may be questionable whether the interests of the 
charity are advanced by their doing so. Such cognomen is not called for 
by any enactment either in the charter or act of Parliament. The following 
is a criticism of Lord Brougham on this subject:— 

“ Machiavel says, that, in political affairs, you should beware lest, in 
changing the name, you alter the thing, without intending it: but he also 
says, that it is sometimes good, when you should change the thing, to keep 
the name. This maxim has been fully acted upon in the case of the London 
Foundling Hospital, and I have seen the bad consequence of following the 
Machiavelian rule. When lately in France, I made war on Foundling Hos¬ 
pitals, and I found a formidable host of prejudices embodied in their de- 
f ence — a host the more dangerous, that they had been enlisted in the service 
by the purest feelings of benevolence ; those persons I found citing against 
me the supposed fact, that we have, in this metropolis, a Foundling Hos¬ 
pital—indeed, a street, deriving its name from thence, and a quarter of the 
town its property. My simple answer was, that the name alone has been 
for half a century known amongst us, the thing itself having long since been 
put down with consent of Parliament.”— Vide his Lordship’s speech in the 
House of Lords , 21 st May , 1835. 

At the back of an original draft for a charter for the Hospital, it is called 
“ The Orphanotrophy,” or nursery for orphans. 






182 


MEMORANDA, 


into this important branch of the charity with some 
particularity ; and first, it will be well to revert to 
the views of the Founder, and to the proceedings of 
the early managers of the institution. 

The Intentions of the Founder .—It has been before 
related, that when Captain Coram resided at Ro- 
therhithe, about the year 1720, his avocations ob¬ 
liging him to go early into the city, and return late, 
he frequently saw infants exposed and deserted in 
the public streets ; and as there was but one step in 
his active mind from the knowledge of an evil to 
a desire for remedying it, he immediately set about 
inquiring into the probable causes for so outrageous 
a departure from humanity and natural affection. 

He knew, what every man who studies the human 
heart must know—that the motive to such a derelic¬ 
tion of maternal duty must be beyond the ordinary 
casualties of indigence. He was not long in disco¬ 
vering the true source of the evil. He found that it 
arose out of a morbid morality, then possessing the 
public mind, by which an unhappy female, who fell 
a victim to the seductions and false promises of de¬ 
signing men, was left to hopeless contumely, and 
irretrievable disgrace. Neither she nor the offspring 
of her guilt appear to have been admitted within the 
pale of human compassion : her first false step was 
her final doom, without even the chance, however 
desirous, of returning to the road of rectitude. AW 
the consideration which was given to her condition, 
was the enactment of laws to bring her to punishment, 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


183 


after she had been driven to the commission of the 
worst of crimes : for the error of a day, she was 
punished with the infamy of years; and although 
her departure from the path of virtue, so far from 
being the consequence of a previous vicious dispo¬ 
sition, might have been brought about by an artful 
scheme of treachery, she was branded for ever as a 
woman habitually lewd. These evils necessarily 
increased the quantum of crime in society, according 
to the manner in which they operated upon the un¬ 
fortunate individuals under their influence ;—still no 
one stepped forward to provide a remedy. The 
legislature, from time to time, condemned the un¬ 
happy wretch to capital punishment who should, in 
the madness of despair, lift her arm against the child 
of her guilt; but it never once considered the means 
by which both parent and child might be saved 
from destruction : yet, by a strange perversity, those 
very laws bore on the face of them evidence of the 
necessity and justice of some more Christian pro¬ 
ceeding. In all of them, the crime for which the 
punishment was awarded, is stated to have been 
committed from a desire in the mother to “ avoid 
her shame ” Surely the woman who would make so 
great a struggle to preserve her reputation, as to 
break the natural ties which bind parent to offspring, 
who is willing to forego the endearments which are 
the fruits of her situation, by either sacrificing or 
deserting her child, cannot, with justice, be charged 
as habitually lewd!—a lewd woman has no shame to 
hide—she makes a show of her guilt, and claims, in 


184 


MEMORANDA, 


open day, the protection which she knows has been 
provided for her by the poor-laws. But when a 
woman, with a sense of honour, finds herself the 
unsuspecting victim of treachery, with the witness 
of her disgrace hanging about her neck, in the person 
of her child, left to the reproach of the world and her 
own conscience, and seeing no other means of saving 
her character, she becomes delirious in her despair, 
and vents her fury on the consequences of her seduc¬ 
tion—the child of her seducer! Hence the murder 
and desertion of children became alarming evils— 
evils which were produced and perpetuated “ for 
want ” (to use the words of Captain Coram) “ of pro - 
per?neans for preventing the disgrace and succouring the 
necessities of their parents." He therefore proposed to 
erect a sanctuary, to which these wretched mothers 
might fly, and there deposit the offspring and the 
secret of an unhallowed intercourse, and be thus 
enabled to return to that path from which they had 
unguardedly strayed. 

This was doubtless the object of Captain Coram. 
In all his memorials to persons of distinction, soli¬ 
citing their support, he ascribes to the parent, as the 
motive of her cruel conduct towards her offspring, 
a desire to preserve her reputation,—to “ hide her 
shame;" and in Hogarth’s design, illustrating the 
views of the Founder, it will be seen that he makes 
him hold personal communion with the penitential 
mother, pouring into her heart the oil of gladness, 
whilst he relieves her of the child of her sorrow. To 
accomplish his purpose of founding an hospital for 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 185 

the objects described, Captain Coram with his usual 
zeal endeavoured to enlist the sympathies of the 
humane and charitable. He soon found, however, 
that there were obstacles in the way. They who 
admitted the evil, questioned the remedy, and 
doubted whether it might not prove greater than the 
disease. He was for seventeen years combating 
public opinion on this head, and though he at last 
prevailed, it was after many contests between him¬ 
self and others as to the probable issue. Can it be 
wondered at, therefore, that in addressing the Pre¬ 
sident at the first meeting of the Governors after the 
charter had been granted, he should throw out a 
suggestion, that its success could only be secured 
“provided due and proper care be taken for setting on 
foot so necessary an establishment .” This, besides 
being dictated by his own good sense, was also 
forced upon him by those who aided him in his 
scheme, and was the condition upon which they 
gave him their support. This “ due and proper 
care ” could only refer to the selection of the objects, 
and it has been seen in preceding pages with what 
absence of forethought the Hospital was “ set on 
foot,” and the evil consequences which arose there¬ 
from. 

At the very outset an error was committed. Cap¬ 
tain Coram, and those who assisted him, petitioned 
for two objects :—first, “ to prevent the frequent 
murders of poor miserable infants at their birth; 
secondly, “ to suppress the inhuman custom of ex¬ 
posing new-born infants to perish in the streets.” 

2 n 


18G 


ME MO HAND A, 


Now to accomplish these objects, the Charter incor¬ 
porated an “ Hospital for the maintenance and edu¬ 
cation of exposed and deserted young children,” thus 
giving a licence to that which was contrary to law, 
and which the memorialists were desirous to suppress. 
It was clear, therefore, that such a charter, though 
beneficial as regards the rights and privileges which 
it gave to the Governors, as a corporation, was use¬ 
less as respected the main object, namely, the ad¬ 
mission of children,—and so it proved. In the next 
session of Parliament, after the charter was granted, 
the Governors found it necessary to frame a bill to 
explain and enlarge the powers granted to them. 
This bill passed into a law ; and the preamble affords 
the explanation required, by stating that the Hospi¬ 
tal is for infants who are liable to be exposed in the 
streets, or to be murdered by their parents. Now 
there are two causes which may suggest themselves 
to the reader, as likely to lead to the exposition or 
destruction of infants : namely, inability of parents to 
maintain them , or a wanton inhumanity . With respect 
to the first,—though this miserable plea has been 
sanctioned in countries where humanity and mo¬ 
rality have made but little progress, yet in England it 
is altogether without foundation, for the wise and 
systematic provision which has been made for the 
relief of indigence , by the institution of poor-laws, 
takes from poverty the desperate alternative to which 
it might otherwise be exposed. As to the second 
cause ,—wanton inhumanity , it may be said, that how¬ 
ever the barbarous policy of eastern countries may 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


187 


render callous the human heart to the calls of pa¬ 
rental affection,—in this' country, where the mild 
influences of Christianity strengthen and support the 
natural ties which bind parent to offspring, the wan¬ 
ton sacrifice of infant life is happily of rare occurrence. 
It will then be asked, “ what children are liable to be 
exposed and destroyed by their parents? ” It is an¬ 
swered,—the children of those wretched mothers, 
before described, whose combination of mental and 
bodily distress admits of no partial relief,—no relief 
which the poor-laws can effectually bestow. These 
were the objects which fell under the compassionate 
consideration of Captain Coram, and the non-atten¬ 
tion of the early Governors to his cautionary sugges¬ 
tion, produced the lamentable consequences already 
narrated, and caused the Founder himself to secede 
from the Council Board of the Institution. 

Children received with Money .—After Parliament 
(frightened by the spirit of evil itself had raised) 
had deserted the Charity, the Governors were left to 
pursue, once more, their own course, and to adapt, 
if they thought fit, its administration to the more 
immediate objects of the Founder. This they were 
evidently desirous of doing, but the extravagancies 
caused by the “ nationality” of their Institution for 
the period alluded to, had emptied the exchequer of 
the Hospital, and the evils of the system had so of¬ 
fended the public, that much of the individual sup¬ 
port which it previously received from charitable 
persons was withdrawn. 


188 


MEMORANDA, 


Their “ poverty,” perhaps not the (< will” of the 
acting Governors, led them into an error of another 
kind, namely—a resolution to receive children with 
money , in ^addition to such other objects as the funds 
of the Hospital might enable them to maintain. It 
is a fact, much to be regretted, that for many years 
children were mysteriously received on payment of 
£100, without a knowledge of, or any clue being 
given to the parents from whom they sprung! The 
abuses which might, and no doubt did arise from this 
system, are so obvious as to need no comment.* It 


* That such a practice should be attended by much of the romance of real 
life will readily be supposed. For instance, it is related, that a married 
woman, whose husband was in India, whilst she was on a visit to England 
with some friends, had formed an improper liason with a gentleman, which 
resulted in her finding herself in a situation, which, under other circum¬ 
stances, would have been called interesting. That in this dilemma, her 
husband being expected home at no distant period, and the fact of her situ¬ 
ation being unknown to her friends, she consulted an eminent physician, 
who, ingenious in expedients, asked her if she was prepared to bear pain 
heroically and to follow his instructions, to which she replied in the affirm¬ 
ative. That he then caused her to be confined to her bed under an assumed 
illness, and having introduced a nurse into the house who was in the secret, 
she was delivered of a child, without any of her friends being aware of 
what had happened to her ; the child having been, at the instant of its birth, 
conveyed secretly out of the house of her friend, and sent to the Foundling 
Hospital, with the necessary sum of money, without any questions being 
asked on either side. 

About the same period of time the following case occurred. A 
daughter of a general in the army, of a distinguished family (a girl seven¬ 
teen years old), formed, in the most unaccountable manner, an illicit liason 
with a menial servant in her father’s house. On the discovery of the 
melancholy circumstance, the enraged parent, after committing upon 
his delinquent daughter personal violence, which nothing but temporary 
insanity could have prompted, turned her out of doors, and, as far as he 
Was concerned, would have left her to starve in the streets. After this, he 
gave out to his friends that she was dead, and the whole family went into 
mourning for her loss. She was delivered of a child, which was placed 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


189 


is due, however, to the Governors to say, that imme¬ 
diately after the funds of the charity had assumed 
a healthier state, they abolished altogether this more 
than questionable practice. At a Court of Gover¬ 
nors, held on the 21st January, 1801, there being 
present several eminent lawyers, including Mr. 
(afterwards Baron) Garrow, and Sir Thomas Plumer 
(subsequently Master of the Rolls), it was resolved 
to rescind the obnoxious bye-law which originated 
so objectionable a system. The truth is, the matter 
was about to be brought to a legal issue, from the 
following circumstance:—The mother of a child 
which had been received under this rule, although a 
consenting party to the separation, afterwards re¬ 
pented and having discovered the residence of the 
nurse with whom it was placed in the country, prac¬ 
ticed upon her an artifice by which she obtained 
possession of the child and refused to relinquish her 
right. The Governors feeling themselves under an 
obligation to reclaim the child by exercising the 
powers which they conceived to be vested in them, 

in the Foundling Hospital. Subsequently to this event, the father of the 
wretched mother so far relented, as to cause her to be placed with a milliner 
in a distant county, upon condition that she should change her name, and 
be henceforth an alien from her father’s family. Here she remained for 
more than twelve months, performing the humbler duties of the humble 
station to which she had been doomed, giving evidence, however, by her 
frequent sighs and tears, of that broken heart which the sequel of her history 
confirmed. One morning she had been sent out, as usual, with the box of 
millinery to her mistress’ customers, and failing to return, after some hours 
of absence, she was sought for, and discovered dead in a neighbouring cot¬ 
tage, having purchased and taken poison to destroy herself! Her father, 
stricken with remorse at the consequences of his severity to his erring child, 
resolved to provide, in future, for the innocent offspring of her crime, and 
removed it from the Foundling Hospital accordingly. Of its subsequent 
destiny nothing is known. 



190 


MEMORANDA, 


took a high legal opinion, vdien they were advised, 
that owing to their departure in this respect from the 
spirit and letter of their charter, and the Act of Par¬ 
liament confirming it, they had no chance of being 
protected in a court of law. From this time , therefore, 
namely , January , 1801, no child has been received into 
the Hospital, either directly or indirectly, with any sum 
of money, large or small . 

The present practice .—The present mode of admit¬ 
ting children has prevailed for nearly half a century, 
without those variations of principle and practice 
which characterized previous periods of the history 
of the Hospital. It cannot be better set forth than 
in the language of a report made to Parliament ten 
years ago, by a commission appointed to enquire into 
the larger charities of London:— 

“The present practice of the Governors is to 
decide each application for the admission of children 
on its own merits. There are, however, certain 
preliminary conditions required, the absence of any 
one of which is fatal to the petitioner’s application, 
and subjects it to instant rejection, except in very 
peculiar cases. Thus it is required, 

“ 1. That the child shall be illegitimate, except 
the father be a soldier or sailor killed in the service 
of his country.* 


* No body of men could have been influenced by more noble and patriotic 
feelings, on different occasions, than the Governors of the Foundling Hos¬ 
pital. In 1761, during the war in Germany, also during the Continental 
war in 1794, and on the occasion of the battle of Waterloo, they freely 
opened their gates to the necessitous children of those who had fallen in 
the service of their country. 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


191 


“ 2. That the child be born, and its age under 
twelve months. 

“ 3. That the petitioner shall not have made an 
application to any parish respecting its maintenance, 
or have been delivered in any parish workhouse. 

“ 4. That the petitioner shall have borne a good 
character previous to her misfortune or delivery. 

“ 5. That the father shall have deserted his off¬ 
spring, and be not forthcoming , that is, not to be 
found, or compellable to maintain his child. 

“ Supposing, therefore, that it appears by the peti¬ 
tion, and the petitioner’s examination,* that the claim 
for admission is advanced in respect of an illegitimate 
child, of a hitherto respectable parent, not twelve 
months old, whose father has deserted it and is not 
forthcoming, and whose birth has not been taken 
cognizance of by any parish authorities, the peti¬ 
tioner is considered to have established a case for 
inquiry ; and the steward is directed to obtain infor¬ 
mation, both as to these and as to other circumstances 
in the case now to be stated, which differ from those 
above-mentioned in this respect, that none are abso¬ 
lutely required, and that they are all taken into con¬ 
sideration by the Governors, and influence their 
estimate of the merits of each application, according 
to the degree only in which they prevail in the indi¬ 
vidual one under consideration. 


* “No one can blame the total change of the plan, which for the last 
sixty years has been made, with whatever view, by adopting the rule to 
admit no child whose mother does not appear to be examined .”—Lord 
Brougham’s Letter to Sir Samuel Romilly on Charities. 




192 


MEMORANDA, 


“ Thus the petitioner’s child acquires a stronger 
claim to admission, according to the degree in which 
it appears. 

“1. That the petitioner is poor, and has no rela¬ 
tions able or willing to maintain her child. 

“ 2. That her delivery and shame are known to 
few persons, being either her relations or inmates 
of the house in which the circumstances occurred. 

“ 3. That in the event of the child being received, 
the petitioner has a prospect of preserving her sta¬ 
tion in society, and obtaining by her own exertions 
an honest livelihood. 

“ The most meritorious case, therefore, would be 
one in which a young woman, having no means of 
subsistence, except those derived from her own la¬ 
bour, and having no opulent relations, previously to 
committing the offence bore an irreproachable cha¬ 
racter, but yielded to artful and long-continued se¬ 
duction, and an express promise of marriage ; whose 
delivery took place in secret, and whose shame was 
known to only one or two persons, as, for example, 
the medical attendant and a single relation ; and, 
lastly, whose employers or other persons were able 
and desirous to take her into their service, if enabled 
a°*ain to earn her livelihood by the reception of her 
child. 

“ This is considered the most eligible case, and 
others are deemed by the Governors more or less so, 
in proportion as they approach nearer to or recede 
further from that above stated ; their great object 
being, as they allege, to fulfil to the utmost the bene- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


193 


volent views of the principal Founder of the Hospital, 
who, as it appears by his petition for the charter, 
was chiefly solicitous that the mothers of illegitimate 
children should have other means within their reach 
of hiding their shame than the destruction of their 
miserable offspring, and thus they say they seek 
‘ to hide the shame of the mother as well as to pre¬ 
serve the life of the child.’ ” 

The first sympathies of the human heart are doubt¬ 
less excited by the presence of misery, originating 
in what may be termed the accidents oi life, unassisted 
either by the transgression or omission of the indi¬ 
vidual. Distress thus obtained, has at all times 
received, though not systematically, the compas¬ 
sionate alleviation which it requires. But there is 
misery of another class, which has its origin in the 
moral weaknesses of our nature : this, though more 
poignant than the former, inasmuch as it is followed 
by the bitterness of acknowledged transgression, did 
not in darker ages receive, because to human wisdom 
it did not seem to deserve, the commiseration of 
mankind. But the Christian religion, by its admi¬ 
rable precepts and influences, has imbued the social 
system of nations with a policy, which is founded on 
a compassionate estimate of the weaknesses of hu¬ 
manity, and a just measure of relief to voluntary re¬ 
pentance. This lesson of mercy was eminently 
taught by the Founder of Christianity himself, when 
he bade the Jew who was without sin cast the first 
stone at the repentant adultress, and then calmly 
2 c 


194 


MEMORANDA, 


dismissed her with the charge to sin no more!* It 
was not that her crime was venial, but He who de¬ 
sired not the death of a sinner, but rather that she 
should repent and live, saw in this wretched cri¬ 
minal, sufficient of remorse to be the object of a 
lesson to mankind,—that the rigour of human law 
should not be exercised without a humane regard to 
the circumstances under which crime may have been 
committed, and to the sincerity of the atonement 
which may have followed. 

It may be asked, then, where is the man, imbued 
with Christian charity, who is prepared to take up the 
stone and fling it at the poor victim of unprincipled 
seduction and brutal desertion ? Is he ready to bear 
in like manner the consequences of his own guilt, 
and to go down the stream of life with her in her 
shattered bark? No:—and yet there are certain 
pseudo-moralists, afflicted with an unfortunate ob- 


* Moore’s poetical paraphrase of this subject naturally recurs to the 
mind:— 

“ Oh, woman! if by simple wile 

Thy soul has stray’d from honour’s track, 

’ Tis mercy only can beguile, 

By gentle ways, the wand’rer back. 

“ The stain that on thy virtue lies, 

Wash’d by thy tears, may yet decay; 

As clouds that sully morning skies, 

May all be wept in show’rs away. 

“Go, go—be innocent, and live— 

The tongues of men may wound thee sore; 

But heav’n in pity can forgive, 

And bids thee ‘ Go, and sin no more ! ’ ” 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


195 


liquity of the mind’s eye, who, rather than succour 
the necessities of one whose misfortune originated in 
evil, would hurl the offender headlong into perdi¬ 
tion. Alas! the descent from virtue to vice is so 
easy, that but one step intervenes between them : 
and often, when we think we are secure, our foot 
slips, and we are involved in all the misery and de¬ 
gradation of sin ! This is the fate of us all : ’tis the 
fate of him who proudly glories in his own rectitude: 
for what is the moral history of a man’s life ? ’Tis 
but a succession from virtue to vice, from vice to 
repentance. Shall man, then, who is so weak as 
not to be able to sustain his own virtue, withhold 
from a wretched woman, who by wily arts has been 
deceived, that compassion for her error which he re¬ 
quires for himself? And yet, those who oppose an 
institution founded on such principles and practice 
as the Foundling Hospital is now conducted, answer 
by their conduct the very affirmative of this question. 
We ask in the language of an eminent writer,* 
“ Have faults no extenuations ? Is there no difference 
betwixt one propensely going out of the road, and 
continuing there through depravity of will,—and a 
hapless wanderer straying by delusion, and warily 
treading back her steps ? ” The latter are the pecu¬ 
liar objects of the Foundling Hospital; and what 
Christian—what man is there who will gainsay the 
humanity of such an institution ? 


* Sterne, who preached a sermon for the charity, in the chapel of the 
Hospital, in 1761. 



196 


MEMORANDA, 


But there are certain individuals who endeavour 
to smother their humanity under the plea, that the 
policy —the good of society as they term it—is against 
the existence of any institution which shall relieve 
distress arising out of an evil action. Now it may 
he well to answer these rigid interpreters by en¬ 
quiring, how far the good of society is injured by the 
institution of an asylum for the protection of infants, 
whose wretched parents, first straying by delusion, 
warily tread back their steps ? 

We know that shame is sometimes so powerful 
a monitor in the female breast, that it is impossible 
to resist its influence. Suppose then, the victim of 
seduction,— deceived, deserted, without even the 
shadow of hope in the distance to point to her relief: 
—suppose, we say, this wretched creature overtaken 
by despair, and in a fit of madness to become the 
murderess of her infant! we ask, how is the good of 
society answered by driving her to this desperate 
act ? Would it not have been better secured by an 
opposite course ? In the first place, by rescuing the 
infant from destruction, through the medium of some 
public asylum, it might be enabled hereafter to give 
its modicum of strength for the benefit of that public, 
through whose compassion it might have been saved. 
And secondly, by preserving the wretched parent 
from so desperate a crime, she might by her peni¬ 
tence and future rectitude have maintained the 
cause of virtue, and once more enjoyed the pleasure 
of reputation after having tasted the ill consequences 
of losing it. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


197 


But we will suppose that the delirium of her 
despair does not reach to* so great a height: we will 
take it for granted, that nature asserts so powerfully 
her claims, that this victim of seduction is ready to 
brave all consequences for the preservation of her 
offspring. How can she do this?—she dare not 
apply to her relations :—they would reject and 
despise her. Her seducer has placed himself out of 
the reach of the law,—she has no means within her¬ 
self—no hope ! Being therefore unable to afford 
protection to her offspring in an honest way, she 
throws off for ever her remaining mantle of virtue 
and abandons herself to a prostituted life! Is the 
good of society promoted by her swelling the awful 
lists of public prostitutes ? Is it promoted by her 
bringing up her child in the path of vice instead of 
virtue ? No. And yet we are told by these spu¬ 
rious moralists, that it is unwise to step in between 
a hapless female and the punishment of lasting in¬ 
famy which they would allot to her offence. 

“ Curse on the savage and unbending law 
Of stem society, that turns a speck 
In woman to an everlasting flaw ! 

And far from whisp’ring us to save or check 
Her course in wantonness, bids us draw 

Round her, like wretches hov’ring round a wreck. 

All that the wave hath spar’d, to spoil and plunder. 

And sink the noble vessel farther under.” 

Many are the indirect testimonies given by men of 
talent in favour both of the policy and humanity 
towards which the objects of the Foundling Hospital 


198 


MEMORANDA, 


are directed. Fielding, who had a profound know¬ 
ledge of human nature and human action, puts into 
the mouth of Mr. Allworthy, in his inimitable novel 
of “ Tom Jones,” the most benevolent, and at the 
same time the most sensible reasons for sheltering 
and befriending the supposed mother of the little 
foundling; and in his parting admonition to her, 
makes the good man say, “ I have talked thus to 
you, child, not to insult you for what is past and 
irrecoverable, but to caution and strengthen you for 
the future. Nor should I have taken this trouble, 
but from some opinion of your good sense, notwith¬ 
standing the dreadful slip you have made, and from 
some hopes of your hearty repentance, which are 
founded on the openness and sincerity of your con¬ 
fession.” And when her enemies would have sacri¬ 
ficed her to ruin and infamy, by a shameful correction 
in a bridewell, “so far” (says the author), “from 
complying with this their inclination, by which all 
hopes of reformation would have been abolished, and 
even the gate shut against her, if her own inclination 
should ever hereafter lead her to choose the road of 
virtue, Mr. Allworthy rather chose to encourage the 
girl to return thither by the only possible means; 
for (he adds), too true I am afraid it is, that many 
women have become abandoned , and have sunk to the 
last degree of vice, by being unable to retrieve the first 
slip : 9 

In the same strain the celebrated Dr. Burn* la- 


* Author of “ Burn’s Justice. ’ 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


199 


ments the abandonment of erring females, by which 
(he says) “ they become desperate and profligate, 
and are induced to make a trade of that vice, which 
at first was a pitiable weakness.” Surely the testi¬ 
mony of such men in favour of the preservation of 
God’s creatures from destruction, is of infinitely 
greater value than all the theories of political econo¬ 
mists ! 

The late Rev. Sydney Smith, who, from the office 
he held, as one of the preachers in the Chapel of 
the Hospital, was well acquainted with the “ work¬ 
ing” of it, thus writes :— 

“ A very unfounded idea exists in the minds of 
some men little acquainted with the principles on 
which we proceed, that the doors of this Hospital 
are flung open to the promiscuous reception of in¬ 
fants, and that every mother can here find an asylum 
for her offspring, whatever be her pretensions as a 
virtuous mother, an indigent mother, or a mother 
striving by every exertion of industry to give to her 
children creditable support. If this were so, this 
institution would aim directly, and in the most un¬ 
qualified manner, at the destruction of two virtues 
on which the happiness of society principally de¬ 
pends—the affection of parents, and the virtue of 
women. We should be counteracting, under the 
name of charity, all those omnipotent principles of 
exertion founded on the love of offspring;—we should 
be weakening that sacred resolution to watch, to 
toil, and to meet all dangers, to suffer all pains. 


200 


MEMORANDA, 


rather than children should know the shadow of a 
grief, or endure but an instant of sorrow ;—we should 
be whispering into the ear of poverty the most per¬ 
nicious of all precepts;—we should be inviting them 
to relax from the noblest efforts, to blunt the finest 
feelings, and to disobey the highest commandments 
of Almighty God. My brethren, these things are 
not so: our zeal is combined with greater know¬ 
ledge; and experience has taught us, that the de¬ 
signs of the pious demand a circumspection not 
inferior to that with which the machinations of the 
picked are pursued. No child drinks of our cup or 
eats of our bread whose reception, upon the whole, 
we are not certain to be more conducive than per¬ 
nicious to the interests of religion and good morals. 
We hear no mother whom it would not be merciless 
and shocking to turn away; we exercise the trust 
reposed in us with a trembling and sensitive con¬ 
science ; we do not think it enough to say, This 
woman is wretched, and betrayed, and forsaken ; 
but we calmly reflect if it be expedient that her 
tears should be dried up, her loneliness sheltered, 
and all her wants receive the ministration of charity. 
The object has uniformly been to distinguish between 
hardened guilt and the first taint of vice. By shel¬ 
tering and protecting once, to reclaim for ever after, 
and not to doom to eternal infamy for one single 
stain of guilt. 

“The fair and just way to estimate degrees of 
guilt is to oppose them to degrees of temptation; 
and no one can know more perfectly than the con- 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


201 


dactors of this charity, the abominable artifices by 
which the poor women who come to them for relief 
have been ruined, and the cruelty with which they 
have been abandoned. My brethren, do not believe 
that these are the mere casualties of vice, and the 
irregularities of passion, which, though well governed 
in the main, degenerate into occasional excess. The 
mothers whom we relieve have been too often ruined 
by systematic profligacy—by men, the only object 
and occupation of whose life it is to discover inno¬ 
cence, and to betray it. There are men in this great 
city who live only for such a purpose, who are the 
greatest and most dreadful curses that the earth 
carries upon its surface. My dear brethren, if I were 
to show you in this church the figure of a wretched 
woman, a brutal, shameless creature, clothed in rags, 
and mouldering with disease;—if I were to tell you 
she had once been good and happy, that she once 
had that chance of salvation which we all have this 
day;—if I were to show you the man who had 
doomed her to misery in this world, and to hell in 
the world to come, what would your feelings be? 
If I were to bring you another as sick and as wretched 
as her, and were to point out the same man as the 
cause of her ruin, how would your indignation rise ? 
But if I were to tell you that the constant occupa¬ 
tions of this man were to search for innocence and to 
ruin it; that he was a seducer by profession; that 
the only object for which he existed was to gratify 
his infamous passions at every expense of human 
happiness, would you not say that his life was too 
2 D 


202 


MEMORANDA, 


bad for the mercy of God ? If the earth were to 
yawn for him as it yawned for Dathan and Abiram, 
is there one eye would be lifted up to ask for mercy 
for his soul ? It is from such wretches as these that 
we strive to rescue unhappy women, to bring them 
back to God, to secure them from the scorn of the 
world that would break their hearts, and drive them 
into the deepest gulf of sin. But this is not all: to 
the cruelty of seduction is generally added the base¬ 
ness of abandoning its object,—of leaving to perish 
in rags and in hunger a miserable woman, bribed by 
promises and oaths of eternal protection and regard. 
Now, my brethren, let us be just even to sinners ; 
let us be merciful even to seducers in the midst of 
horror for their crimes ; let us fix before our eyes 
every circumstance that can extenuate them; let us 
place by the side of the guilt the temptation, and 
judge them as we hope to be judged at a perilous 
season by the great Judge of us all. Let us call 
seduction the effect of youth and passion, still we 
have a right to expect all that compensation of good 
which youth and passion commonly afford, if we 
allow to them all the indulgence they usually re¬ 
quire; but what of youth or passion is there in 
forgetting the unprotected weakness of women—in 
starving a creature whom you have ruined—in flying 
from her for fear she should ask you for bread? 
Does youth thus unite fervour with meanness ? Does 
it, without a single compensatory virtue, combine its 
own vices and the vices of every other period of life ? 
Is it violent and sordid, avaricious and impassioned. 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


203 


the slave of every other feeling, and the master of 
generous compassion alone ? This is not youth ; 
this has nothing to do with the origin of life :—it is 
cold and callous profligacy begun in brutal sensuality, 
fostered by irreligion, strengthened by association 
with bad men, and become so hardened, that it 
laughs at the very misery it creates. These are the 
feelings, and these the men, whose cruelty we are 
obliged to alleviate, and whose victims we are des¬ 
tined to save. Is there any friend to virtue, how¬ 
ever rigid, who can say that such an application of 
charity, so scrupulous and so discriminating, is not a 
solid augmentation of human happiness ? that it does 
not extend the dominion of the Gospel, and narrow 
the boundaries of sin ? But let those who conceive 
that the claims even of such unhappy women should 
be rejected, consider what it is they do reject: they 
reject the weakness of sex; they are deaf to the 
voice of ruined innocence; they refuse assistance to 
youth, shuddering at the gulf of infamy; they would 
turn out an indigent mother to the merciless world, 
at a period when she demands all that charity can 
afford, or compassion feel! But whatever be the 
crimes of the parents, and whatever views different 
individuals may take of the relief extended to them, 
there is no man who thinks that the children should 
perish for their crimes, or that those shall be doomed 
to suffer any misery who can have committed no 
fault. Therefore this part of the institution is as 
free from the shadow of blame as every other part is 
free from the reality.” 


204 


MEMORANDA, 


Sir Thomas Bernard, Baronet, who was for some 
years Treasurer of the Hospital, writes as follows in 
1803 *: — 

“ The preserving and educating so many children, 
which without the Foundling Hospital would have 
been lost to that society of which they are calculated 
to become useful members, is certainly a great and 
public benefit. The adoption of a helpless unpro¬ 
tected infant, the watching over its progress to 
maturity, and fitting it to be useful to itself and 
others here, and to attain eternal happiness hereafter, 
these are no common or ordinary acts of beneficence ; 
but their value and their importance are lost, when 
compared with the benefits which (without any pre¬ 
judice to the original objects of the Charity), the 
mothers derive from this Institution, as it is at pre¬ 
sent conducted. The preserving the mere vital 
functions of an infant cannot be put in competition 
with saving from vice, misery, and infamy, a young 
woman, in the bloom of life, whose crime may have 
been a single and solitary act of indiscretion. Many 
extraordinary cases of repentance, followed by resto¬ 
ration to peace, comfort, and reputation, have come 
within the knowledge of the writer of this note. 
Some cases have occured, within his own observa¬ 
tion, of wives happily placed, the mothers of thriving 
families, who, but for the saving aid of this Insti¬ 
tution, might have become the most noxious and 
abandoned prostitutes. Very rare are the instances. 


* vide Report of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, 




FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


205 


none has come within notice, of a woman relieved 
by the Foundling Hospital, and not thereby pre¬ 
served from a course of prostitution.”* 

There are 500 children supported by the Hos¬ 
pital, from extreme infancy up to the age of fifteen. 
This is the maximum number for the maintenance of 
which the present funds can be made available. 
It is only therefore as vacancies occur by apprentice¬ 
ship or death, reducing this number, that other 
children can be received. The average admissions 
per annum for the last five years was forty-four. 
The average number of applications for the admis¬ 
sion of children was 181. Independently, therefore, 
of a principle of action which governs the Committee 
in the selection of cases, the limited means at their 
disposal, as compared with the claims upon them, 
furnishes of itself a safe-guard or guarantee against 
a too free administration of this, the most important 
branch of the establishment. 


* The Compiler of this Book, from his peculiar position in the Hospital 
as the investigator of petitions for the admission of children, has had, perhaps, 
for some years past, better opportunities than any one else of observing the 
operations of the charity as affecting the unfortunate mothers of the chil¬ 
dren, and he can confidently assert (with Sir Thomas Bernard), that how¬ 
ever obvious and unquestionable may be the advantages of such an institu¬ 
tion in nurturing and educating a large number of innocent, and, otherwise, 
destitute children, this is only secondary to the decided and certain bene¬ 
fits derived by their deluded and repentant mothers, and, through them, 
by the society of which they are members. He has witnessed, with an 
interest which has made an indelible impression upon his mind, numbers of 
instances where the peace and happiness of a whole family have been 
restored by relieving one erring member of the object of her and their 
disgrace! 




206 


MEMORANDA, 


It has been said (and gravely, though ridiculously, 
charged against the Hospital) that the Governors 
are liable to be deceived, and that in some cases 
they have been imposed upon by designing persons. 
This may be so, it being the fate of all human insti¬ 
tutions to be imperfect. Judges and juries are very 
often betrayed into error by false witnesses, but 
does any one pretend to assert that therefore, courts 
of justice are useless ? If the duration of institutions, 
of whatever nature, was to depend upon the perfect 
integrity of their administration, it is to be feared 
that their existence would be short-lived indeed! 


THE PRIVILEGES OF THE GOVERNORS. 

There is a class of men with so little charity in 
their hearts, as to make it an incomprehensible matter 
to them how any individual can be found, in this 
mercenary world, to contribute either his time or 
money to benevolent purposes without some com¬ 
mensurate benefit to himself; but it is a fact, not¬ 
withstanding, that there is a large body of individuals 
(.and miserable indeed would society be without such 
persons), who from the purest motives of Christian 
charity, are to be found dispensing the good with 
which God has blest them, for the benefit of their 
poorer sojourners in this world of sin and misery, 
divested entirely of self-interest. Of that number 
are the Governors of the Foundling Hospital! It is 
asserted without fear of contradiction, by one who 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


207 


has had for many years ample opportunity of ascer¬ 
taining it, that there is not a charity in or out of the 
metropolis, more disinterestedly administered in the 
selection of its objects than this institution. It has 
become a principle (fully supported in practice ), that 
no Governor shall interfere, either directly or indi¬ 
rectly, by recommendation or otherwise, in obtaining 
the admission of a child. No interest is exercised 
except what the abstract misery of the case on its 
presentation excites, and all extraneous support is 
set aside. The truth is (and this is a good fea¬ 
ture of the charity), that the persons relieved are 
of that class who are unable to command patron¬ 
age, or who dare not seek it lest their error and 
their misery should be betrayed ! 

This disinterested administration of the most im¬ 
portant branch of such an institution is thus asserted, 
because there is a “vulgar error” on the subject, 
namely—that the Governors have the privilege of 
presenting children, after the manner of other esta¬ 
blishments 5 but a more unfounded statement never 
was erroneously conceived or ignorantly dissemi¬ 
nated ! 


NAMING AND BAPTIZING OF THE CHILDREN. 

It has been the practice of the Governors, from 
the earliest period of the Hospital to the present 
time, to name the children at their own will and 
pleasure, whether their parents should have been 
known or not. 



208 


MEMORANDA, 


At the baptism of the children first taken into the 
Hospital, which was on the 29th March, 1741, it is 
recorded, that “ there was at the ceremony a fine 
appearance of persons of quality and distinction : 
his Grace the Duke of Bedford, our President, their 
Graces the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, the 
Countess of Pembroke, and several others, honouring 
the children with their names, and being their spon¬ 
sors.” 

Thus the register of this period presents the courtly 
names of Abercorn, Bedford, Bentinck, Montague, 
Marlborough, Newcastle, Norfolk, Pomfret, Pem¬ 
broke, Richmond, Vernon, &c. &c., as well as those 
of numerous other living individuals, great and small, 
who at that time took an interest in the establish¬ 
ment. When these names were exhausted, the 
authorities stole those of eminent deceased person¬ 
ages, their first attack being upon the church. Hence 
we have a WicklifFe, Huss, Ridley, Latimer, Laud, 
Bancroft, Tillotson, Tennison, Sherlock, &c. &c. 
Then come the mighty dead of the poetical race, 
viz.—Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakspeare, John 
Milton, &c. Of the philosophers, Francis Bacon 
stands pre-eminently conspicuous. As they pro¬ 
ceeded, the Governors were more warlike in their 
notions, and brought from their graves Philip Sidney, 
Francis Drake, Oliver Cromwell, John Hampden, 
Admiral Benbow, and Cloudesley Shovel. A more 
peaceful list followed this, viz.—Peter Paul Rubens, 
Anthony Vandyke, Michael Angelo, and Godfrey 
Kneller; William Hogarth, and Jane, his wife, of 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


209 


course not being forgotten. Another class of names 
was borrowed from popular novels of the day, which 
accounts for Charles Allworthy, Tom Jones, Sophia 
Western, and Clarissa Harlowe. The gentle Isaac 
Walton stands alone. 

So long as the admission of children was confined 
within reasonable bounds, it was an easy matter to 
find names for them ; but during the “ parliamentary 
era” of the Hospital, when its gates were thrown 
open to all comers, and each day brought its regi¬ 
ment of infantry to the establishment, the Governors 
were sometimes in difficulties ; and when this was 
the case, they took a zoological view of the subject, 
and named them after the creeping things and beasts 
of the earth, or created a nomenclature from various 
handicrafts or trades. 

In 1801, the hero of the Nile and some of his 
friends honoured the establishment with a visit, and 
stood sponsors to several of the children. The names 
given on this occasion were Baltic Nelson, William 
and Emma Hamilton, Hyde Parker, &c. 

Up to a very late period the Governors were 
sometimes in the habit of naming the children 
after themselves or their friends; but it was found 
to be an inconvenient and objectionable course, 
inasmuch as when they grew to man and woman¬ 
hood, they were apt to lay claim to some affinity 
of blood with their nomenclators. The present 
practice therefore is, for the Treasurer to prepare 
a list of ordinary names, by which the children are 
baptized. 

2 E 


210 


MEMORANDA, 


THE NURSING OF THE CHILDREN. 

The early practice in the nursing of the children, 
and its results, cannot be better stated than in the 
language of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., in the following 
letter, dated 28th October, 1748:— 

“ To my very worthy and respected friend , John Milner, 
Esq., Vice-President of the Hospital for the Main¬ 
tenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted 
young Children . 

“ Sir, 

“ It is some years since I had some discourse with 
you upon the erection of the Hospital for the Main¬ 
tenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted 
young Children : a thing, which being much wanted 
in this city, I had frequently recommended to my 
acquaintance, and particularly to you, who have so 
great a hand in taking care of all people in want, 
and promoting so good and necessary a work of 
taking care of infants, which by the management of 
parish nurses, in giving them diacodium, or other 
opiats, to quiet them when fretting with diseases 
occasioned by their bad nourishment, generally 
sweet’ned with sugar, and the want of the breast by 
wett nurses, scarse ever live to two years old, which 
is the cause of the great numbers of children of that 
age, who are about a third part of all those who dye 
yearly, of all diseases and accidents, within the bills 
of mortality, as may be seen by the same at St. Giles’s 
parish, there being no wett nurses provided, but 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


2 J 1 


being bred up by hand, that out of foundling or 
other children sent thither, scarse one in seven lived, 
as you may very well remember. At the Temple 
and at Chelsea, I am assured there dyes above one 
half of the foundling children. What great detri¬ 
ment accrues from thence to the publick is easy to 
be understood by such who know the strength and 
wellfare of any nation depends on the number and 
health of its inhabitants. Upon this occasion you 
may very well call to mind, that when I was present 
at the first meetings of the Foundling Hospital, I 
was very much against, and opposed the intended 
method of breeding up infants by hand, but, on the 
contrary, urged having wett nurses for the children 
to be taken in there. My opinion 1 told you, and 
the rest of the Governors, was founded on the expe¬ 
rience that I had for fifty years, that as far as my 
memory served me, I observed that in three infants 
bred without breasts, two generally dyed, or in that 
proportion, notwithstanding what I or others could 
do to help them. This, I generally thought, pro¬ 
ceeded from deviating from the orders of God and 
nature, to follow men’s inventions. I have allways 
immediately advised, in such cases, the breast, as 
the first and best remedy, which seldom fails, unless 
the child would not suck, in which case, breast-milk 
given with a spoon is the best remedy, by which, in 
some urgent cases, where children had their tongue, 
lips, or noses obstructed, either by diseases or acci¬ 
dents, before, or in the birth, their lives have been 
saved by receiving the same proper nourishment. 


212 


MEMORANDA, 


though not by sucking. What deceives unthinking 
people is, the children taking down such artificiall 
succedaneous nourishment or victuals with seeming 
complacency: they do not consider that any infant 
will swallow even any poyson, that hath no ill tast, 
that is putt into its mouth. Mankind would be in a 
very bad and worse condition than other animals, if 
it were not to be expected that the parents should 
take reasonable care of them till experience, and the 
use of their own reason, hath taught them what is 
proper for them. We see, every day, most sur¬ 
prising instances of the care of animals in preserving, 
defending, providing proper nourishment, and train¬ 
ing up their young, while they are not in a condition 
to act for themselves, whether from instinct or an 
inferior use of reason. 

“ The bad qualities of many wett nurses, and their 
opinion of being so necessary to families, hath some¬ 
times made their masters weary of such servants, and 
obliged them to try what they did not so well con¬ 
sider or know. They did not know that the gutts of 
children are, some of them, not much thicker than 
writing paper; that the blood-vessels were, many of 
them, capillary, nay, even much smaller than a hair ; 
and that a disproportion^ nourishment might occa¬ 
sion great disorders, not only in the primce vice, but 
also in the turnings, and many circumvolutions in 
the gutts and several glands of the body, which 
might occasion rickets and the king’s evil, and these 
sort of diseases, more taken notice of in England 
than other countries. The infant’s incapacity of 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


213 


judging, must by the order of nature and Providence, 
devolve to the parents, and seems to be pointed out 
for sucking, till they have teeth to tear or grind. I 
have seen and very much condemn’d the custom of 
some who, too soon, put into the hands of infants 
dry crusts of bread, chickens’ leggs, and other ob¬ 
structing nourishment; and I have seen the liveliest 
and healthiest children, who never had other nou¬ 
rishment than from the breast for upwards of one, if 
not two years. This too thick nourishment, in elder 
people, is helpd by drinking, when prompt to it 
by thirst, or oppression at their stomach, which 
children are not able to discover. 

“ The natural and customary time of the appear¬ 
ance of teeth is about eight months, if pregnancy 
happens, then a dry very carefull nurse may suffice, 
and the child, wean’d ; if before, a wett nurse must 
be procured. I think the difference of the age of a 
wett nurse’s milk is not to be so much regarded, 
having in my own family had one wett nurse suckle 
four children successively, who have been and now 
are healthy and well. 

“The mischiefs that arise from want of breast- 
milk are gripes, from the disproportion’d food turning 
generally soure, giving green stools, causing pain, 
and irritating the gutts to discharge them, and the 
mucus intestinalis given by nature to defend them, 
bringing blood from the capillary vessells dispersed 
through some parts of it, hindering rest, and leaving 
them little else but skin and bone, and causing ob¬ 
structions in the glands of the ventricles of the brain. 


214 


MEMORANDA, 


and brain itself, in which I have seen an inundation 
from this cause, whence follows a discharge of strum 
occasioning convulsions of all sorts. I have been 
the more certain of this, because, considering the 
natural and reasonable desire in mankind to per¬ 
petuate their kind, it was necessary to see the causes 
of the deaths of their children ; and I think I never 
miss’d, in many hundreds open’d, the finding it pro¬ 
ceed from the above-mention’d causes, which blis¬ 
ters, bleeding, gentle purgers, aperients, and proper 
remedies, proved ineffectual to cure. The use that 
I made of this, was the preventing the like in subse¬ 
quent children, by making (especially such as ap¬ 
peared to have any disorder) an issue at, as near as 
could be to, the setting on of the first vertebre of the 
neck to the skull, which I am as certain as I can be 
hath preserved many families from dying without 
heires of their bodies to inherit, some of them, very 
great honours and large estates. 

“ When loosenesses and green stools happen to 
infants, testaceous powders, as chalk, crabs eyes, 
claws, &c., helps more than rhubarb, which purges 
them more, and is no ways to be depended on for 
strengthening the bowells, as may be seen, if I 
remember right, by the experiments of the Aca- 
demie of Sciences, in some of their memoirs, and by 
the daily experience of too many purging to death 
by it; whereas the testaceous powders, and a mode¬ 
rate use of diascordium, made as prescribed by Fra- 
castorius, its original author, after each loose stool : 
about ten grains at a time, when necessary, is one of 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


215 


the best remedies, given in a spoonfull of breast- 
milk, or hartshorn drink: 

“ Another thing I have taken notice of as a great 
fault in the management of infants, is the putting 
them too soon upon their leggs, and bribing them to 
walk alone, or even with the help of leading-strings, 
which brings many crooked bones, from their not 
having acquired a suitable hardness to sustain, but 
grow crooked under the weight of their bodies, 
nature rather seeming to design their grovelling on 
their hands and feet at first, than standing erect. 
Most other nations have their limbs streight for that 
reason; and I do not remember to have seen, in 
whole countrys, for some years, so many crooked 
bones as are to be seen in half an houres passing the 
streets in London, not counting such as are bed-rid, 
confined at home, or women whose habits hide their 
deformities of that kind. 

“ If you remember, at that time, it pleased God, 
I fell very ill, and was not able to attend you at the 
meeting of the Guardians of the Foundling Hospital, 
who were advised to bring up by hand all such 
infants as would feed, and suckle only such as would 
not. This being much against my opinion, from the 
ill effects I had observed by it (as I had before told 
you and the rest of the Governors), made me some 
time after, upon my recovery, inquisitive about the 
event of it; when, upon examining the books of the 
Hospital, I found as follows, by which it plainly 
appears, that what I said was agreable to matter of 
fact:— 

“ March 25th, 1741—admitted 30 children; to 


216 


memoranda, 


wett nurses, 2; dyed, -: to dry-nurses, 28; 

dyed, 15. 

“ April 17th, 1741—admitted 30 children ; to wett 
nurses, 7 ; dyed, 1 : to dry nurses, 22 ; dyed, 1 l. 

“May 8th, 1741—admitted 30 children ; to wett 
nurses, 17 ; dyed, 4 : to dry nurses, 13 ; dyed, 8. 

“ Total children admitted, 90. Total to wett 
nurses, 26; dyed, 5. Total to dry nurses, 63; 
dyed, 34. Taken out, 1. 


“ I am, Sir, 

“ Your most obedient and 

“ Most humble servant, 

“Hans Sloane.”* 


“ Chelsea.” 


There can be no doubt that as the object of an 
institution of this nature is to save life, its managers 
should take all reasonable means for effecting such 
a desideratum. It is with this intention that the 
present Governors invariably obtain for the infants 
falling under their charitable care, wet nurses , unless 
it happens (which is rarely the case) that the age of 
a child renders such assistance unnecessary. The 
result, therefore, of this course is much more favour- 


* Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., was of Scotch extraction, and was born at 
Killileagh, in the County of Down. He was an eminent physician and 
naturalist, and founded the British Museum. He was the author of several 
excellent works. Having purchased the Manor of Chelsea, he gave the 
Company of Apothecaries the entire freehold of their botanical garden 
there. Sir Hans Sloane was physician to Christ’s Hospital, and on the 
death of Sir Isaac Newton, in 1727, he was elected president of the Royal 
Society. He died on the 11th January, 1752, and was buried at Chelsea. 



foundling hospital. 


217 


able than that adopted at the outset of the esta¬ 
blishment. 

In considering the question of mortality, the chil¬ 
dren of the Hospital should he classed under two 
heads, namely 1st, those under the age of five 
years in the country , and 2ndly, those of from five 
to fifteen in London. 

With respect to the former, the chances against 
rearing many of them are very great, and for these 
reasons. The mothers of the infants (who for the 
most part are very young), being desirous of “ hiding 
their shame” from their relatives, or those with 
whom they may happen to be placed, manage by 
contrivances and artifices to prevent a knowledge of 
their imprudence until it can no longer be concealed. 
The writer has known many instances where girls 
(for their youth justifies the designation) have been 
living with their mothers, with whom they have been 
in constant intercourse and even sleeping in the same 
bed, and yet have contrived to hide from their pa¬ 
rent the fact of their unfortunate condition till the 
moment of confinement. In the same manner 
servants manage to undergo the labours of their 
office, and contrive to elude the observation of their 
mistresses, till the instant of giving birth to a child. 
The unnatural distortions of body by which their 
secret is preserved, are accompanied by anxieties of 
mind which does not arise only from the dread of 
discovery. The prospect before her is dreary enough, 
but the retrospect is perhaps worse. “ She finds 
herself” (says the late Rev. John Hewlett), « the 
2 F 


218 


MEMORANDA, 


victim of treachery and voluptuousness, where she 
fondly hoped to be the object of pure and individual 
love, and at a time when the languor of the body 
and the growing anxiety of the mind powerfully 
claim, and in general receive, additional tenderness, 
she is obliged to endure the severest affliction that 
fear could imagine, or unkindness produce.” Can 
it be wondered at therefore, that an infant born un¬ 
der such circumstances, should be deficient in those 
physical developments which otherwise it might have 
possessed. But this is not all. The same powerful 
motive which prompted her first desire to conceal her 
disgrace, leads her to seek the only other opportunity 
she has of ensuring such concealment, namely—by 
putting her infant away from her, as soon after its 
birth as possible, to some nurse, who under a promise 
of payment, which the mother is unable to fulfil, en¬ 
gages to take upon herself the duties of the parent, 
duties which in nine cases out of ten she neglects 
to perform in a satisfactory manner. Beginning life 
with such opposing contingencies, and thus neglect¬ 
ed, the infant is admitted into the Foundling Hos¬ 
pital. “ At least one-fifth of those admitted, during 
the last nine years” (says the examining medical 
officer) “ have been in such a miserable state of 
emaciation, as to make it doubtful if they could be 
reared at all, and of those presented in tolerable 
health, many receive a serious check from the change 
of nurse, condition, and other circumstances at¬ 
tending their admission. These infants are pre¬ 
sented at all ages, from one to twelve months, and 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


219 


have been mostly exposed to all the injurious con¬ 
sequences arising from insufficient nursing and im¬ 
proper diet; the greater number have not had the 
breast at all, and I have generally found on enquiry, 
that those who have had the advantage of a wet 
nurse, have been fed at the same time with spoon 
food.” 

The Compiler has searched the registers of the 
Hospital, and has extracted an account of the mor¬ 
tality of 100 children, during the first five years of 
their lives, received at two separate periods, viz.— 
from May, 1835, to May, 1837 ; and from May, 
1837, to March, 1839; and he finds the following to 
be the result:— 

1st Period. 2nd Period. 

Deaths in the 1st year of their age . . 12 9 

2nd „ . . 5 10 

„ 3rd „ ..22 

„ 4th „ ..00 

„ 5th „ ..10 

20 21 * 

The causes of death were as follows, viz.: — 

Convulsions, 9 ; inflammation of lungs, 3 ; mal¬ 
formation of chest, 3; diarrhoea, 3; inflammation of 
bowels, 4; water on brain, 4 ; croup, 2 ; hydrocele, 
1; disease of mesenteric glands, 5 ; scarlet fever, 2 ; 


* The mortality of children in private families under five years of age in the 
metropolis, is between thirty and forty per cent. In agricultural districts 
the mortality amongst cottagers is about twenty-eight per cent. 





220 


MEMORANDA, 


atrophy, J ; bilious vomiting, 1; scrofula, 1 ; hoop¬ 
ing cough, 1 ; teething, and the breaking of a blood¬ 
vessel, 1. 

The above, therefore, furnishes evidence of the 
loss of life, per centum, of those children under the 
age of five years, whilst at nurse in the country. 


The following is the account of the mortality of 
the children of the Hospital, in London , during a 
period of ten years, from the ages of five to fifteen : — 


1837 . 

Average number of 
Children in the House. 

216 . 

1838 . 

216 . 

1839 . 

230 . 

1840 . 

. 226 . 

1841 . 

237 . 

1842 . 

223 . 

1843 . 

258 . 

1844 . 

298 . 

1845 . 

305 . 

1846 . 

307 . 


Deaths. 

3 

0 

0 

0 

1 

12 * 

2 

0 

2 

1 


The diseases of which the said children died are 
as follows:— 

Water on the head, 2; consumption, 1 ; scrofula 

_ ____ y 

* This extraordinary mortality caused much anxiety to the eminent 
medical staff of the establishment, and it was attended with unusual cir¬ 
cumstances. The epidemic with which the children were attacked was that 
of measles and hooping cough, co-existing in many cases, and complicated 
with severe and extensive inflammation of the lungs, coupled from the 
commencement, with a degree of prostration of strength which made the 
indications of treatment peculiarly perplexing and contradictory. The 
number of children afflicted with the epidemic was nearly 100. 











FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


221 


1 ; disease of mesenteric glands, 1 ; bronchitis, ter¬ 
minating in low fever, 1 < disease of the spine, and 
gangrene of the lungs, 1 ; chronic peritonitis, 1 ; 
typhus fever, 1 ; scarlet fever, I ; dropsy, following 
scarlet fever, 1; measles and hooping cough compli¬ 
cated with inflammation of lungs or bowels, 10. 

The general health of the children within the walls 
of the Hospital is remarkably good ; and with the 
exception of occasional epidemic visitations, they 
have been singularly free from the acute forms of 
disease to which children in general are so liable. 

Perhaps the healthiness of the locality could not 
be better exemplified than by this fact—that several 
adult foundlings, who from some organic defect, 
have from time to time become chargeable to the 
Hospital for life, and have scarcely ever quitted the 
walls of the building, have lived to a very advanced 
period—some dying between the ages of seventy 
and eighty years, and others between eighty and 
ninety. 


THE DISPOSAL OF THE CHILDREN. 

The children are all disposed of by apprenticeship : 
the girls at the age of fifteen to domestic service, for a 
term of five years, and the boys at the age of fourteen 
as mechanics, &c. for a term of seven years. The 
trades to which the latter have been apprenticed 
during the last seven years are as follows, viz.:— 
tailors, sixteen; boot and shoe makers, sixteen; 
fishermen, seven; cabinet makers, four; linen 



222 


MEMORANDA, 


drapers, three; confectioners, two; bakers, two; gold 
beaters, two; hair dressers, three; hair manufac¬ 
turers, two; silver smith, one ; opticians, two ; tin 
plate worker and ironmonger, one ; general provision 
dealer, one ; weaver, one ; law writers, two ; watch 
maker, one ; pawnbrokers, three ; soda water manu¬ 
facturer, one ; cooper, one ; dyer, one ; paper hang¬ 
er, one ; furnishing undertaker, one ; brass, copper, 
and iron wire drawer, one; silk hat manufacturer, 
one ; domestic service, four ; in all eighty appren¬ 
tices. A very satisfactory report was recently made 
of their conduct and destination, four only excepted. 
These have left their masters, owing to disagreements, 
but are believed to be leading reputable lives. 

With respect to the girls, it appeared by a recent 
investigation, that of all those apprenticed during 
the last five years, there was only one whose conduct 
had been faulty, and she was redeeming her charac¬ 
ter by subsequent good behaviour. 


THE REVENUE OF THE HOSPITAL. 

There is much misconception and misunderstand¬ 
ing on the part of the public on this head. 

In the memoir of Captain Coram, it has been 
clearly shewn that what property he had acquired, 
was consumed in the pursuit of his philanthropic 
projects, and that he had no wealth by which to en¬ 
dow, even in a limited degree, an institution of this 
nature, being himself a recipient of charity for the 
last two years of his life. The Hospital had nothing 



FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


223 


therefore to depend upon at its commencement, but 
the eleemosynary aid of the public, either in the 
form of donations or legacies ; and what permanent 
revenue it now has, may be ascribed to the fortuitous 
policy of the early Governors and the provident care 
of their successors. Thus the Governors in 1741, 
being in pursuit of a salubrious site for erecting 
an Hospital, fixed upon certain fields in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London, deriving their name from 
“ Lamb’s Conduit,”* (in extent fifty-six acres) be¬ 
longing to the Earl of Salisbury, who agreed to sell 


* “William Lamb, some time a gentleman of the Chapel to Henry VIII, 
citizen and clothworker, having drawn together several springs of water 
into a head, now from him denominated Lamb’s Conduit, near the Found¬ 
ling Hospital, at the upper end of Red Lion Street, in High Holborn; 
whence in a leaden pipe two thousand yards long, he conveyed the same to 
Snow Hill ; where having re-edified a ruinous conduit long disused (and 
now entirely demolished), he laid his water into the same, to the great ad¬ 
vantage and convenience of that neighbourhood. This conduit finished 
March 26th, 1577, though removed a little from its place, still retains the 
name of its re-builder, the charge whereof, together with that of the other 
parts of the work, amounted to £1500.”— Maitland's London. 

Great Ormond Street, leading out of “ Lamb’s Conduit ” Street, was for¬ 
merly the place of residence of several eminent judges and literary men, and 
the “ Foundling Estate,” till towns were built beyond it, was the favourite 
suburban retreat of merchants and lawyers. As the district is getting old 
enough to deserve a chronicler, the origin of the names of the squares and 
streets may be recorded. Brunswick and Mecklenburgh Squares had their 
existence in an effusion of loyalty on the part of the Governors of the Hos¬ 
pital. Guildford Street was named after a noble president of the Charity. 
Great Coram Street after the founder. Hunter Street after John Hunter, 
Esq. Wilmot Street ftom John Wilmot, Esq. Everett Street from Thomas 
Everett, Esq., M.P. Heathcote Street from Michael Heathcote, Esq. (Vice- 
Presidents). Bernard Street from Sir Thomas Bernard. Bart., and Compton 
Street from Samuel Compton Cox, Esq. (Treasurers). Kenton Street from 
B Kenton, Esq. (a Governor). The rest of the Streets were named after 
leading public individuals, &c. 



224 


MEMORANDA, 


them to the charity for £5500. The whole tract of 
land was purchased out of casual benefactions and 
legacies, not because the charity required it for its 
then purposes, but because the Earl would not sell 
any fractional part of it. As London increased, it 
approached this property, and the Governors were 
induced fifty-five years after, to turn that to the pecu¬ 
niary advantage of the charity, which its early ma¬ 
nagers had not the remotest idea would have ever 
become otherwise beneficial than as guaranteeing 
the healthy condition of the children. From this 
accidental circumstance, the Governors derive from 
ground rents alone, an annual income equal to the 
purchase-money! This income is secured by leases 
of ninety-nine years duration, of which there is an 
average unexpired term of forty-five years, so that 
until that period, the income from this source must 
remain the same. 

Some imaginative persons have invested the Hos¬ 
pital already with the property in which it has only 
a remote reversionary interest, and they unwisely 
withhold their charitable hands, not because they 
disapprove of the Institution, but because it is already 
so rich ! No charity can be rich unless it has a sur¬ 
plus revenue after every reasonable opportunity has 
offered for disposing of it upon the objects for whose 
benefit it was created. This is not the case with 
the Foundling Hospital. “ It confines itself,” (says 
Bishop Thirlwall), " to a particular class of cases, 
one, however, which is unhappily so large, that it 
constantly overgrows the means of relief.” It should 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


225 


be understood, therefore, that to these ground-rents, 
and the interest of certain stock, which has been 
nursed by the great care of the Guardians of the 
Charity, to the benefactions at the chapel doors and 
other such casualties, the Hospital is wholly depen¬ 
dent for support, and will be so for nearly fifty years 
to come. 

The walls of the building present, it is true, a 
goodly array of tablets, noting very considerable 
benefactions and legacies, but it should be recol¬ 
lected that the greater part of this money was swal¬ 
lowed up in the vortex caused by Parliamentary 
interference, and that only during the last fifty years 
have the Governors been able to lay up for the Hos¬ 
pital a pecuniary foundation. 

The present annual income may be stated as 
follows:— 

Rents of the Estates.£5520 

Interest on £108,388, Stock . . . 3307 

Benefactions on an average of 3 years . 241 

Net Produce of the Chapel on an ave¬ 
rage of 3 years ....... 687 

£9755 


Of those who were early benefactors, the name of 
Omychund, a black merchant of Calcutta, should be 
specially mentioned. He bequeathed to the Found¬ 
ling and Magdalen Hospitals, 37,500 current rupees, 
to be equally divided ; but unfortunately a portion 
only of this munificent legacy could be extracted 
2 G 






226 


MEMORANDA, 


from the grasp of Huzzorimal, his executor, not¬ 
withstanding the zealous interference of Warren 
Hastings, Esq., the Governor-General, and other 
eminent functionaries. 

The following is a legacy of another kind. The 
testator was one Shirley, of Stratford in Essex. 

“The whole of my Dramatic Works, consisting of 
nine Tragedies, one Comedy, and five smaller pro¬ 
ductions, I bequeath to the Governors of the Found¬ 
ling Hospital, in trust for that greatly useful Institu¬ 
tion, hoping their being enabled to get them per¬ 
formed, unaltered or mutilated, in one of the London 
Theatres, they being certainly not inferior to any set 
of such performances produced at the present age ; 
and should they be acted, I request the repayment 
out of the profits to all subscribers to me, which can 
amount but to a small sum of money.” 

In 1759, William Williams, Esq., who possessed 
property in Jamaica, bequeathed the same to certain 
persons “ in trust to sell the same, together with all and 
every the Negro, Mulatto, and other slaves whatsover 
to me belonging, with their future offspring, issue, or 
increase, and to pay the net proceeds to the Treasurer of 
the Foundling Hospital .” His next bequest is as 
follows:—“ Item, I give and bequeath to that most 
abandonedly wicked, vile, detestable rogue and impostor, 
who hath assumed, and now does , or lately did go by 
the name of Gersham Williams, pretending to be a son 
of mine, one shilling only, to buy him an halter, where - 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


227 


with to hang himself \ being what he hath for a long , 
long , very long while past meritted and deserved from 
the law of the hands of the hangman , for his great and 
manifold villaniesT 

At the demise of his reputed father, this “ Gers- 
ham Williams,” made many attempts to compromise 
matters with the Governors of the Hospital regarding 
the legacy, but he proved a slippery character, and 
failed in his object. The legacy yielded to the Cha¬ 
rity £55G3. 


THE BENEVOLENT FUND. 

As this Memoranda was commenced with a view 
to its publication being made the medium for in¬ 
creasing the usefulness of the above Fund, it seems 
desirable that it should conclude with some notice 
of the object of its establishment. 

The Fund was set on foot in the year 1845, by 
several of the acting Governors of the Hospital on 
this humane principle, viz:—That the helplessness 
of old age, especially when accompanied by an irre¬ 
proachable life, was as worthy an object of compas¬ 
sion and amelioration as the helplessness of infancy, 
and that sickness, unprovoked by intemperance or 
other misconduct, deserved in the after life of the 
objects of the charity, as much alleviation as it re¬ 
ceived in the days of their youth. In fact, that as 
the Institution rescued them in childhood from want, 
or from the cold and compulsory charity of a parish 



228 


MEMORANDA, 


workhouse, so in old age or sickness should it extend 
its merciful hand for the same object. 

The Fund is dispensed by granting weekly allow¬ 
ances to the aged and infirm, and by affording tem¬ 
porary relief to the distressed. 

It is wholly supported by subscription, the reve¬ 
nues of the Hospital not being applicable for the 
purpose. 

It contributes to the maintenance of ten weekly 
pensioners, but, although there are other claimants, 
its limited means will not admit at present of an 
extension of its operations. The aggregate ages of 
four of these recipients amount to 339 years. 

Of one of them, aged 90 (who in manner and 
conduct may be taken as a specimen of the whole), 
the compiler is enabled to give the following inte¬ 
resting account in the language of an active Governor 
of the Hospital and a zealous and liberal friend of 
the Fund. 

“ St. John Street, 

“ 10th November, 1846. 

“My dear Mr. Brownlow, 

“ During my brief stay at Warrington, I thought 
it a duty incumbent on me to seek out our venerable 
pensioner on the Benevolent Fund, Bernard Harris, 
for which purpose I introduced myself to the lady 
who takes so warm an interest in his welfare, and 
who, upon my expressing a desire to see him, very 
kindly accompanied me to his cottage. I found the 
poor old man in bed, to which he had been confined 
for the last six weeks; upon his being informed who 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


229 


I was, and the object of my visit, his feelings were 
much overcome; he held my hand tightly within his 
own, and it was some minutes ere he could speak to 
me; he then with much emotion, said, ‘I thank 
God for giving me this opportunity of expressing my 
unbounded gratitude for all the care and attention 
bestowed on me in infancy : but for the protection 
of the Foundling Hospital, I might have been brought 
up in a career of misery and vice, and become an 
outcast. The Hospital sheltered me in childhood, 
gave me instruction—apprenticed me to a weaver, 
by means of which I have not only obtained an 
honest livelihood, but have brought up and main¬ 
tained a family ; and now, when with the exception 
of one daughter, all my children are dispersed, and 
I have reached my ninetieth year, and am about to 
descend into the grave, I find my last days rendered 
comfortable by means of the Foundling Benevolent 
Fund, and which has thus in my old age saved me 
from the horrors and degradation of the Union Poor 
House. I am of a great age, but I am not afraid to 
die, no, I am patiently waiting God’s good pleasure, 
and my last words shall be a prayer to Him, to bless 
that noble institution where I was taught to love and 
fear him/ 

“ I asked him to inform me something of his his¬ 
tory, which he cheerfully complied with; and upon 
enquiring if he had ever visited the Hospital since he 
left it, he replied that not only had he done so, but' 
it was ever nearest his thoughts, as a proof of which 
he told me that some years since he addressed a let- 


230 


MEMORANDA, 


ter to the Governors of the Hospital, and was so 
gratified by the feeling manifested towards him in 
the reply, that he had learned it by rote, and would 
repeat it to me, which he did without the slightest 
hesitation. He however gave me a much more gra- 
tifying proof of his retentive memory, by repeating 
without any mistake or misplacement of words, the 
Instructions given to Foundling apprentices upon 
leaving the Hospital; upon coming to that part 
which says, * be not ashamed that you were bred 
in this Hospital. Own it: and say that it was 
through the good Providence of Almighty God, that 
you were taken care of. Bless Him for it/ the old 
man lifted himself in bed, and with much energy, 
said, ‘ I am not ashamed of it,—I do bless Him 
for it.’ 

“ I then enquired into his circumstances, and 
found that in consequence of his now being confined 
to his bed, his daughter was obliged to give up her 
attendance at a neighbouring factory, where she had 
been enabled to earn a fe\t shillings a week, in order 
to devote herself entirely to the care of her father, 
and thus their means had become more straitened 
since his illness. I told him that the character 
which I had received of himself and daughter was 
so satisfactory in every respect, that notwithstanding 
the Benevolent Fund was so limited as to prevent 
our carrying out its objects to the extent required, 
yet I would intercede with the Committee to increase 
his small allowance, by an additional grant of two 
shillings a week, for which I assure you he seemed 


FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 


231 


most grateful. I must add that his cottage, although 
very humble, was remarkably neat and clean. 

“ I took my leave deeply impressed with what I 
had witnessed, and felt how much you, who had 
laboured so assiduously in establishing this Fund, 
might congratulate yourself upon its happy results, 
administering as it does to the aged and necessi¬ 
tous Foundlings in the last days of their existence. 

“ Believe me, 

“ Yours very faithfully, 

“ W. Foster White.” 

In concluding this Memoranda, the Compiler begs 
to state that these records have caused him some 
trouble, but that he shall consider it no trouble at 
all to receive the contributions of the reader in aid 
of the Benevolent Fund of the Foundling Hospital. 




[F. Wabr, Printer, Red Lion Passage.] 



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